The U.S. Department of Energy will fund $8 million for six solar energy research projects across six states and the District of Columbia that support agricultural production and solar energy generation on the same land.
Known as agrivoltaics, using land for agriculture and solar photovoltaic energy generation will benefit farmers and communities, a Dec. 8 Department of Energy news release said. It will increase access to solar energy.
“DOE’s research into agrivoltaics provides an incredible opportunity to pair solar energy generation with safe and robust crop production — ensuring rural communities reap the full economic benefits of a clean energy future,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in the release. “With these exciting projects, we’re supporting sustainable agriculture and investing in the technologies that enable us to make our climate goals a reality — a win-win for our planet and hardworking farmers coast to coast.”
Projects will be funded under the Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale program, which has a goal of developing “replicable models for agrivoltaics that can provide new economic opportunities while potentially reducing land-use conflicts,” the release said.
According to the release, entities receiving funding are Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, $1.6 million; Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J., $1.6 million; Solar and Storage Industries Institute, Washington, D.C., $500,000; The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; $1.8 million; University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, $1.3 million; and University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., $1.2 million.
“Mooooo-ve over We've got a big announcement we've been cultivating," U.S. Department of Energy said in a Dec. 8 post on Twitter. "Today we announced $8 million to integrate solar energy production with farming.”
