(4 Nov 2021) As solar energy becomes more common around the world, the sprawling panels needed to generate electricity are covering more and more land. While some worry about
the loss of farmland, others see a chance to repair environmental damage from decades of industrial agriculture and urban development.
Many solar farms already host native plants that provide urgently needed habitat for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Sheep graze around some installations,
reducing the need for mowing. Others might be suitable for vegetable cultivation.
At Jack's Solar Garden in Longmont, Colorado, researchers are studying which plant species are best suited to the shady micro-climates beneath solar panels and
examining other potential benefits.
"People have been using shade to produce food in dryland regions for thousands of years. We're taking advantage of really historic practices and overlaying with it a new
benefit of energy production," said Greg Barron-Gafford, University of Arizona biogeographer studying crop cultivation under solar panels.
Hoisted 6 and 8 feet off the ground, the solar panels form a shade canopy for the produce throughout the day, allowing a respite from the hot, midday sun, he said.
As demand for solar energy expands, so do the opportunities the land below it.
"We don't have to leave the soil underneath our solar panels across our country denuded or just left to weeds," said Byron Kominek, owner of Jack's Solar Garden.
"Elevating the panels up a little bit more provides agricultural jobs as well as an opportunity to do more with our land."
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