Virginia’s Piedmont Environmental Council developed a project featuring 42 solar panels above a field of vegetables. And they did it right next to where the veggies grew.
Cabbage, turnips, bok choy, and some other cold weather vegetables kept growing under the elevated solar panels. At the same time, the solar panels generated almost all of the farm’s electrical power.
Battery storage helped keep that power available when needed. The project covered a quarter acre.
The goal was to find out whether food production and solar generation could coexist on the same land.
Is it possible to grow food and energy at the same time?
Forty-two panels power more than the crops
The project is located on the Piedmont Environmental Council’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in Aldie, Virginia.
Rather than covering farmland with solar panels, the project placed 42 panels approximately 6-8 feet above the ground. That created space for crops to continue growing beneath them.
Current crops being grown include cabbage, lettuce, green onions, turnips, broccoli, bok choy and collard greens. Most of the harvested crops are given to local food bank partners.
However, the crops represent only one portion of the overall research project.
Researchers combined 42 solar panels with batteries. The system could continue providing energy even if grid power was unavailable.
Project Lead Ashish Kapoor noted that a launch-day snapshot showed roughly 97 percent of power supplied by the solar and battery system, while the array is designed to generate 130% of annual electricity needs. It also powers pumps that draw water from wells on the farm.
The goal was to determine if working farmland could continue producing food while generating its own electricity.
Half-a-million acres disappeared
This issue remains relevant today because solar development and agricultural land are often seen as competing land uses in Virginia. Between 2017 and 2022, Virginia experienced a loss of nearly half a million acres of farmland.
Additionally, many farmers throughout Virginia continue experiencing increased costs and decreased revenue. As such, many farmers face a very difficult decision. Whether or not to allow new development on their land.
This can create potential sources of revenue. It can also remove that land from agricultural production.
Advocates of agrivoltaics believe that new development and agricultural production do not necessarily have to conflict. Agrivoltaics is defined by Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Joseph Guthrie as “an opportunity to keep existing farmland in production while utilizing that same piece of property in a second way.”
That idea supported the creation of Roundabout Meadows’ Agrivoltaic Demonstration Site by the Piedmont Environmental Council. Similar ideas have also been explored by the World Resources Institute.
Instead of replacing active farming operations with new development, Roundabout Meadows’ Agrivoltaic Demonstration Site was designed to place agriculture at the forefront of each phase of operation.
That approach has attracted interest beyond the farm itself.
Parking lots enter the conversation
Roundabout Meadows’ Agrivoltaic Demonstration Site is more than a functioning farm. Researchers are collecting data from the site. They hope it will help other communities determine whether similar projects are feasible.
Several parts of the design were influenced by that goal. They were included to explore whether similar systems could work in urban environments.
That includes rooftops, parking lots, and other areas that lack traditional farmland.
Researchers also intend to evaluate different crop types through multiple growing seasons.
According to Farm Manager Teddy Pitsiokos, the early results indicate promise.
However, Roundabout Meadows’ Agrivoltaic Demonstration Site is still in its infancy.
Future farmers may face the same delays
Several obstacles emerged during the initial installation process. Permits were required before construction began on Roundabout Meadows’ Agrivoltaic Demonstration Site. Interconnection delays with utility companies caused further complications.
Each of these obstacles helped identify potential roadblocks.
Future farmers may encounter many of the same challenges when developing their own agrivoltaic projects.
Read the whole thing?
Get the week's signal, not the noise
Our sharpest reporting on energy, climate and nature — free, once a week.
