All I want for Christmas is a solar-powered greenhouse
Heliene is developing the solar integrated greenhouse market via multiple angles – integrating standard panels into structures while also developing “quantum dot” panels that shift the photon wavelength away from crop damaging UV, and into the orange and red wavelengths that plants crave.
Sunrise brief: First Solar notches its biggest win via multi-gigawatt orders
Also on the rise: Consumers Energy will add 400 MW of solar, an agrivoltaics clearinghouse launches to help drive the movement, and John Weaver lays out the case for continued California net metering.
Agrivoltaics clearinghouse launches to share info on matching solar with farming
The National Center for Appropriate Technology launched the clearinghouse to connect farmers and solar developers with agrivoltaics information.
Sunrise brief: Which crops pair well with solar?
Also on the rise: Ossoff bill would address cost burden of rooftop solar to low- to middle-income customers, and $13 million in seed round funding for a solar module-mounted storage solution.
Which crops pair well with solar? Illinois study aims to find out
Rapidly falling price of solar panels has created an impetus for the construction of solar fields, which is often perceived as competing with crop production.
Sunrise brief: Big financial win means more clean energy investments from NY Green Bank
Also on the rise: Getting to net-zero carbon by 2050 will be a steep climb, report says; Walmart signs on as anchor for community solar; and BlueWave aims to develop floatovoltaic projects.
Researchers develop a novel design for agrivoltaics
The design uses metal brackets as mounting structures, conventional solar panels, and a grooved glass plate placed between the solar panels. System costs would be around $847/kW.
Farmers opting for solar leases over carbon sequestration contracts
In a recent Purdue University survey, farmers reported adopting solar leases at more than double the rate of carbon sequestration plans as a much higher price-per-acre was offered.
Solar makes a lot of sense at ground level, too
Solar projects that support native grasses can sequester more carbon than cropland alone. And about all that corn for ethanol.
Minnesota is primed to turn a page on the conflict between solar growth and farmland preservation
Proposed legislation could better balance the goals of solar developers to add capacity in prime resource zones, which also overlap some of the state’s best farmland.
