Solar farms are often viewed as a choice.
A piece of land can either produce food or produce electricity.
Researchers at Agrivoltaics at Iowa State University are conducting experiments to see if that premise holds all the time.
Located approximately seven miles south of Ames, Iowa, is a 10-acre solar farm and living laboratory.
Instead of just measuring how much electricity will be produced, researchers are looking into whether food can be grown on the land at the same time as generating solar energy.
The test area features several types of photovoltaic panel designs (to study their effects), a variety of agricultural production areas, and beekeeping activities.
The overall purpose of this multi-faceted site is to study an approach called agrivoltaics.
Solar farms do not always have to replace farmland
Agrivoltaics involves using the same piece of land for both solar energy generation and agricultural production.
While most large solar installations occupy land that would otherwise be used for agriculture, agrivoltaics seeks to make both activities possible on the same property.
As new proposals for solar installations begin to appear on maps across rural America, there are many who have expressed concern about the impact these developments may have on local agricultural lands.
Agrivoltaics research explores whether agricultural production can continue alongside solar infrastructure rather than being replaced by it.
The Iowa research facility was established through an agreement between Alliant Energy and Iowa State University.
Under this agreement, Alliant Energy owns and operates the solar array while Iowa State University serves as the owner of the land upon which the solar array sits.
Researchers are testing how crops perform both beneath the solar panels and in the spaces between the panel rows.
Instead, they are seeking to learn which approaches will remain viable and financially and environmentally sustainable over extended periods of time.
Crops and solar panels are now sharing the same space
Agricultural activities being studied include horticulture, crop production, pollinator habitat creation, and beekeeping in and around the solar farm.
The work forms part of the broader agrivoltaics research program at Iowa State University.
The site allows researchers to compare how these activities perform inside a utility-scale solar farm versus in a traditional open-field setting.
The findings may help improve our understanding of how agriculture and solar energy production interact.
In addition to examining how crops and bees coexist with solar arrays, the project is also looking at how agricultural production affects the operation and maintenance needs of the solar farm.
This will help establish whether agricultural production can successfully take place within an operational solar farm.
The site provides a real-world testing ground where different approaches can be evaluated under actual operating conditions rather than through hypothetical models alone.
Future solar projects could be designed very differently
The project brings together expertise in land management, agricultural production, and solar energy performance.
The ultimate goal is to develop “best practices” for other utility-scale solar facilities that might be located adjacent to farmland or agricultural lands.
If successful, this research may serve as a guide for farmers, landowners, solar developers, utilities, and communities planning similar solar-related projects.
For years, food production and electricity generation have generally been treated as separate uses of the same land.
This project is examining whether both can take place on the same property.
Data on crop production, pollinators, and solar energy performance continue to be collected across the same 10 acres research cite near Ames, Iowa.
The information gathered there may help decision makers evaluate how future solar farms are designed.
Some may remain single-use energy-generating facilities.
Others could support both electricity generation and agricultural production on the same land.
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