Agrivoltaics. An economic lifeline for American farmers?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- Agrophotovoltaics, agrivoltaics, or APV. Just like the name suggests, it's a way of combining photovoltaic solar panels with agriculture. In many parts of the world where fertile land is scarce, agriculture and solar developers have fought over available space. What each party might have been missing all along is that it could be more profitable for both of them if they work together instead. And that may also just be the answer to the existential crisis being faced by so many farms across the United States and around the world.
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We've had a 100kw ground mounted system since 2010 here in central PA USA in our sheep pasture. We benefit from the solar power and continue pasturing sheep on the land under the panels. The grass grows fine and the sheep enjoy the shade.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
lol vegans are crazy, nothing wrong with meat. earth need both animals and veg. 8 billion ppl in 40 years it be 16 billion never stop ppl starving , way too many ppl.
sad this guy want you kill all the animals . when the humans need birth control. proven it when everyone stay in the house for 10 months covid-19 force them stay at home.
@@hillbillyintheasia6122 That's not how human or animal populations work. Humans will top out at 10bn. Here's an easy to understand introduction: th-cam.com/video/ezVk1ahRF78/w-d-xo.html
hi Jason, do you have any tips for getting started? I just bought a 15 acre farm in CNY
I worked as an Operations and Maintenance Tech at the Topaz solar plant in Central California. When it was commissioned in 2015 it was the largest solar power plant on earth, at 550 MW. It was situated on a wildlife preserve, and we had biologists on site to make sure we adhered to strict rules about the endangered Kit Foxes, and we had wildlife corridors established for the small herds of Tule Elk, and there's also an incredible wildflower bloom in the early spring. We also had to hire sheep to keep the natural growth of prairie grasses down, within the arrays, and it was a major source of strife for us workers to deal with as we shifted the sheep around, who were pinned in by portable electric fencing. At the time I had the thought that the land could be cultivated, as the grasses grew up to chest high by midsummer. This documentary gives me hope we can largely eliminate fossil fueled electricity and lessen our water demands while growing food at the same time. Thank you for posting this very valuable information.
Would border collies have helped?
You could also redirect those sheep and they would cook themselves. And, with all those birdies that perish, you could open "Sky and Turf" franchises. How "Californian" of you.
if human survival wasn't competing against the fossil fuel industry it would have already happened, chemical companies run the show in australian farming
👍👍👍👍
@@karenhoskins9126 Yes - but they likely do not fare so wall in hot areas and there is a shortage of such well trained border collies. As there are not many herders anymore, they also do not train the dogs. Some might do it as a hobby and for competitions (border collies are said to be the smartes dogs). But those enthusiasts likely live more in the U.K. and will not move.
This channel is the modern equivalent of old school Discovery Channel or National Geographic. I mean, it’s that quality of content. Well done. Truly a gem.
While Ive deleted most other TH-cam subscriptions other the past two years, not you. You’re amazing. You deserve an award...
Thank you Chris. I appreciate your support :-)
👌
@@JustHaveaThink yes I know you didn't talk to me but. Question can you do a video on how we can reduce it like dry farming. Sorry for taking up you're time but thank you for listening and updating us on this lots of people don't know this problem.
No. This video leaves out far too much pertinent information.
@@thesilentone4024 Check out Department of Primary Industry in Australia. We have, probably the second best dryland farmers in the world (are the Israelis the first?)
www.dpi.nsw.gov.au and other states, too. vic, qld, sa,wa,tas,nt Search each state.
I love how insightful and well researched all those episodes are. I stand by my previous statement that this is one of the best TH-cam channels there is.
agreed. he does great work.
Totally agree with you Petter
Thank you Petter. I really appreciate that.
Absolutely! Anyone contemplating starting a tech TH-cam channel needs to use the "Just Have a Think" videos as their benchmark.
How do you know that it's well researched? Have you fact checked everything?
There also is a maximum temperature above which photosynthesis stops working. In hot places, the shade could keep plants from exceeding that temperature in the hottest part of the day, allowing them to grow much more.
hmmmm am engineer. Panels production drops with increasing heat(have this temperature-brightness dependence). For max production you need cool ambient but very bright light (basically springtime in temperate climate). Too hot and you might as well be getting the same production as winter in the arctic circle. Something about a balance of current vs voltage dependency curve.
@@cactusmann5542 I've heard of this. What would u suggest to tweak or fine tune this agrivoltaics? Or it is not feasible? Asking from Malaysia in the tropics where it is bright and hot here
@@cactusmann5542 It sounds like photovoltaic panels have been created for temperate climates instead to be created for maximum solar light exploitation . It can't be just coincidence.
The plant material itself would have to reach 104F or 40C. That only happens when there is not enough water and air flow to allow the plant to regulate the high heat. If the plant material got that hot, it would be dead, it wouldn't just stop growing. I am not extremely confident about this, so I will be outside this summer pointing a laser temp at all the plants in my yard on 100f+ days.
@@cactusmann5542 I live about 75 miles south of Lost Wages in northern Arizona. I am off-grid and get >95% of my electricity from 8 300w panels, (it could easily be >100% if I invested in a larger battery bank). The loss of production during the summer here is insignificant.
"...unlike that carrot" *Immediately likes video*
Exactly what triggered me to hit like. 🤣
Some agricultural land near me (Salisbury, UK) was sold to pv developers a few years ago and a solar farm put in. At the time I wondered why crops couldn't be grown underneath the panels so it's great to see that such an idea is both possible and beneficial to both uses. I hope the world sees more of this and quickly!
I'm in Southern manitoba canada and I'm really grateful for this. We 5000 achers of grain farm land, we will have to run some numbers to try this. It looks very beneficial, yet again thank you my good sir
Excellent. I wish you the very best of luck. I really hope it turns out to be economically viable on your land :-)
@@JustHaveaThink somthing you might find interesting to look into is the movement of tornado alley extending father north. Our weather in south western manitoba the last year was the most active its been in 15 years. This past year a tornado went through VIRDEN MANITOBA and killed 2 kids from melita. South of that town I almost got taken in by a tornado that came out of nowhere. 6 funnels that did not touch down 1 did in 2021 storm season. The lightning was the most intense its been. Our weather is drastically effected and where I live in the dead triangle service zone we see the weather moving around us in that triangle shape more then Coincidentally.
Google
Tornados virden manitoba
In 2 months you'll see
I'd be interested in chatting if you're serious about setting up an agrivoltaic system. Orbital.farm
@@MeI-vy2ls Have you seen the Great Canadian Dome company? Also to protect your lands take a look at this: www.orgoneenergy.org/blogs/news/powers-of-orgone-energy-orgone-cloudbuster
@@petepenn1 Nonsense
They’ve been doing this for a while in Korea. It’s blindingly obvious as a way to combine agricultural production with solar power production. This will provide a very useful additional source of income for farmers. It has to be adopted!
Hi Graham - Good lead. Thank you!
Hi do you know where in korea? I would love to connect with them.
Thanks
imagine if So. Calif put these over parking lots? The heat generated by parking lot asphalt is enormous.
I would also suggest putting panels over the water canals to make power while reducing evaporation.
Australia copped a bit of a serve for having almost no up take of these systems but... Driving around Adelaide South Australia I don't have to go far to see car parks where cars shelter under solar panels. It is probably an indication that our developers are only motivated by profit and our farmers are a conservative lot and may still be in climate change denial.
Solar tubes should be installed over highways too.
@singby pass And flushes it into the ocean !
They need some incentive to do it because the up front cost is too high for them to justify it economically, the govt doesn't give enough incentives though. Maybe the solar panel leasing model can be improved in some way to distribute cost better?
This really blows my mind. Normally I'd be ranting about companies filling perfectly good fields with panels when there are neighborhoods full of unshaded roof tops literally right across the street, but this idea of a symbiotic relationship between a cash crop and solar panels is a totally different animal. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the great video. One added use that is worth mentioning is the implementation of an aquaculture systems. The photovoltaic panels shade the pond, reduces algae, water evaporation, and have more than enough energy to supplement the cost of energy to circulate the water, which runs the aquaponic system and grows crops.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing.
A Fascinating symbiotic concept.
Would love to see the Ag and Solar industry merge in this way
Agricultural industry, not silver industry, for anybone confused about what he means by Ag
I have a few farmer friends that they wanted to put up wind turbines and that got rejected because of blot in the sky line they then looked at solar that got turned down because blot on land scape, they put up polly tunnels and was told they look wrong on the land they also looked at biodigester and that got turned down, it's mainly the big town snobs that move out to the rural communities that want clean and green but not on my back door, they also complain when there muck spreading that's its too potent, it only lasts a few weeks and depends on weather.
France has enacted laws against exactly this type of whinging. Time for your friends to lobby for the same.
Those 'big town' people need to be circumnavigated by state or federal policy.
The All complaints and no solutions crowd. "We must fix everything but not allow any changes." They are in housing departments also. "All Past, no Future" types.
I believe there are fake enviros in that crowd, too. I believe they say it's against "land management laws". Hopefully, Biden will delete all so called "enviro" laws against big solar, wind, battery production and agrivoltaics.
@@fireofenergy Hi, im in England and we have toffee nose t%*ts that dont like their view spoilt when they move out of towns or cities.
currently in Australia sheep are used for many solar farms as ground maintenance and a food source, Cattle tend to push and rub against panels and goats jump onto the panels.
If they are good enough for the Parkes telescope... 👍
Oh but aren’t we meant to go to a plant based diet? I’m a sheep farmer so let me be clear, nobody is going to run sheep if we can’t eat them.
I know we poison the weeds with chemicals.
I can now hear them say grow organic carrots under them.
I don’t think that will work in low rainfall semi arid broad acre country of Australia.
@@stevenstart8728 Wool, wool. Especially once we ban Nylon because of the persistent toxic microplastics...
MrDisasterboy sounds like it would be a bonanza but unfortunately wool hasn’t a hope of meeting the requirements of the world textile market
@@stevenstart8728 not alone, but we will need to stop the nylon eventually... Future generations can have a go to that...
But obviously the sheep help with deep space tracking somehow 🤷🤪
Can't wait for this to become mature.
Never! - Carrot jokes forever!!!
Using wood to support the panels might be worth exploring as an option. It would both reduce steel use which produces a lot of CO2 in its production, but it would also lock in some CO2 in the wood (assuming obviously it was sourced sustainably). It would gradually rot away when left exposed to the elements, but perhaps the timeframe that happens in would be commensurate with the panel lifetime (20 years +) or it could be replaced as needed.
Wood lasts a very long time if you use steel or concrete for just the part that is below a height of about 12"/30cm.
The right kind of wood can last decades. It goes grey on the outside and just keeps going. It will certainly last as long as the lifetime of a typical PV installation ie 25 years.
If the place is an organic farm, there will be insects that bore wood. I don't think it would be safe to have wooden structures in farmland of it needs to support a great deal of weight.
@@aleenaprasannan2146 You can overcome that with hardwoods.
Termites only eat softwoods for the sugar in them. We have coconut palm fence post that are over 80 years old. Fallen softwood trees are completely eaten within 18 months. I've also used coconut palm wood for roofing on adobe houses built in the bush surrounded by termite mounds.
@@laupernut Yes, coconut trees are pretty dense...But, Termites aren't the only thing I'm talking about. There are bumble bees, wasps and beetles that bore wood. If you are from a place where coconut palms grow, I suppose you might also know about the huge black beetle that specifically target coconut trunks?
Interesting. I was driving through the mountains in Virginia this weekend and saw signs that said "Keep solar off the farms". Maybe while they are busy telling farmers what to do with their land they should take time to have a think.
Perhaps 'DARWINIZATION' IS A POSSIBLE ANSWER TO PRODUCING SUCH IDIOTS WHO RUIN SUCH THINGS FOR THE REST OF HUMANITY?
Just a thought there!
@@drflash36 ah yes the movie idiocracy. That said, there's someone for anything out there - it's survival of the fittest.
the oil companies paid for those signs. lol.. besides.. "their" land?? really?? what welfare farm state do you live in again?? the gov pays for the majority of that land.
I was brought here from Undecided's latest video "Solar Panels Plus Farming? Agrivoltaics Explained".
Subscribed!
I am totally impressed by the amount of research you are putting into your videos. Cheers from another guy who recently gave up on meat.
Cheers to both of you for eliminating harm in your diets!
There is alot of land out west that can not be farmed but works extremely well to raise cattle. Once again the one size fits all European woke model is being pushed. Also the loss of farms in the US is for two reasons. Some very high tax states like NY have forced the family farmer out of business. Also in more tax friendly states, big corporations are buying up the land. There the land is not being abandoned like NY. The concept of harvesting energy with farm crops is limited to access to the grid. Good ideas still have to get past the bankers.
@singby pass I am wondering if you have lived and worked on a farm and ranch? I grew up on one out west. Do you have a degree in agriculture? I do! I don't take away from what you said but your statements are not as inapplicable out west. Yes there are people trying to work themselves into an early grave under a mountain of debt but I have seen very few become successful. The CRP government program has destroyed rural communities out west. Also the corn farmers in the east got ethanol in the gas so the corn become too expensive and the western feedlots went broke. The general feeling out west is if it is a federal program from DC then its going to be bad for the North West (I do not include the left coast- the I5 corridor). I went back to school and have worked in engineering every since. I did not want to need to rely upon the government for anything. Back to the corn issue, the promise was made when the ethanol/gas was approved that the use of corn would just be for 5 to 8 years until the technology matured for less refined feedstock for ethanol production. I know that both Iowa senators were also corn farmers (one a Democratic and one a Republican) ethanol feedstock is still corn. The government lied.
My brother is considering buying 40 acres and literally yesterday I was trying to tell him about why he should think about farming them like this!! I love this channel!
Great insight. As a retired person that enjoys gardening I was surprised to realize that my tomatoes growing partially in the shade have a higher output than those grown in the sun, especially when the seed packs specified 100% sun. Now I try experimenting more.
Gosh, I knew one old plant physiology professor who worked on the photosynthesis pathways using radioisotopes, but he said it was a bit of a mystery why photosynthesis shut down under full sunlight. Anyhow, that's good news for agrivoltaics! I'm glad this concept is taking off, and it could be doubly useful in parts of Africa, because cacao trees, normally native as an understory tree in the deep rainy tropics of mesoamerica, prefer shade, and many rural areas in Africa need electrification. There's another potential successful dovetailing of energy production and farming! 🌞🌱🌄🌍🌴
Dave, you read my mind... During yesterdays road trip I look a field with solar panel and wondered why the grass around wouldn't be used for feeding the animals... Well there seams to be even better solutions! 😊
And me.
My thoughts exactly, the system described here takes it a step further. I recall reading a few years ago that a solar generating system (which focused the sun's rays on a boiler using mirrors) installed in the desert allowed plant life to grow in the shade of the mirrors.
Look up "white oak pastures" or solar grazing they are grazing solar farms with sheep
This is being studied in New York state, with sheep: www.pv-magazine.com/2021/05/14/new-york-funds-study-on-benefits-of-grazing-for-pv-installations/
@@Kevin_Street and bees. There are travelling bee keepers the areas could be used for early spirng flowers. Later the sheep can come in.
I'd love to add this to my farm. I already have 45kW of house and shed mounted solar.
The intense summer sun in Queensland Australia causes stress in many plants that aren't companion shaded when grown in a monoculture.
Farmers in Mesopotamia 6000+ years ago: If we plant trees to shade our crops they will grow better.
Modern people: Putting solar panels above a field? Where did you get such idea?
There is nothing new under the sun (no pun intended).
By the Bronze Age we had worked out how to regulate the economy and bring it back to perfect balance - all personal debts were regularly forgiven and everyone was happy. The Jubilee.
Since the Roman Empire debts are enforced. So it's something else we forgot we'd solved.
Book - "and forgive them their debts" by Michael Hudson. Fascinating.
@@Jay...777 Great to see other people reading proper books by sane, intelligent authors Peter. Thanks for the comment
@@Jay...777 If I borrow a bunch of money from you, don't pay you back, and my debt is forgiven, is that cool with you? Works for me.
@@brianwheeldon4643 Worth checking out his vid interviews on YT, He was Trotsky's Godson you know. One of the sanest economists on the planet, with such a diverse history of experience. The US Defence dept bought 2000 copies of his book Super Imperialism and used it as a how to do it book. Not quite what he'd intended, though it did prove he knew what he was talking about.
i have been saying this for some time now as it seemed obvious. even weed control below panels needed grazing animals. A WIN WIN for land owners.
Stupid Tony Abbott shut down all constructive conversation about climate destabilization in 2013 in Australia and poisoned the minds of the Australian electorate about what could be achieved.
Australia has 8 million billion m2 of sunshine, at 1 kwh/m2 all year and a stable political environment.
Our flat continent always has wind 24/7/365 every year.
We have the longest power grid in the world and we cross 4hrs of time zones.
THE MAN IS THE MOST FEABLE OF PEOPLE, he had the future in his hands as our prime minister.
Love your work.
Further more the excess energy could be used to desalinate sea water to irrigate crops in the desert.
Tony Abbott, the Rhode scholar, the leader of Australia 2013 was voted out by his own electorate which was a 'blue ribbon' seat for his party. An ugly genius (sarcasm), he is an idiot in my opinion.
I have a grandson and climate DESTABILISATION is the biggest danger, we are not migrating down to the Great Southern Ocean cool latitudes when the extreme high temperatures come.
i am particularly excited about my vegetables this year!
Yes, for those with the space to do it, a garden can be a very good thing. The only things money can't buy are true love and home grown tomatoes.
Especially the carrots ?
And I can’t wait to get another 10 of my home grown sheep butchered and in the freezer.
@@robhaythorne4464 All I can grow are snow peas,(chinese peas, pois mangetout) I am very happy for you!
@@stevenstart8728 Poor little lambies; that will teach them to be so delicious !
I actually suggested this a few years ago, to be used in hot deserts to lower the temperatures underneath and allow for condensation to occur, and for the shade to lower the temperatures. It could also be paired with pipes through which to passively pump high-humidity air and steam using long greenhouse ponds filled by siphons with seawater, with the greenhouse around the ponds using fresnel lenses to concentrate sunlight onto the water, because the higher the temperature of the steam, the faster it can be pumped and the higher the elevation it can be pumped to, without needing to reheat the air. If tweaked well, at the destination you will have a big pipe which will have smaller outlets through which high-pressure high-humidity air will be released under such solar panels, where the depressurization will turn them into mist and clouds, passively watering the plants starting at noon and ending around midnight. There will also need to be safety discharge plants along the way, where water can be collected, to avoid a water-hammer effect. The inertia of the water can be used to spray the water upwards like a geyser, or release it into a pond or lake, even if it's especially made for safely discharging that water. And the greenhouse ponds can also be cleaned regularly, by either pumping out concentrated brine (which has uses in other industries, like selling sea salt or in solar concentrator powerplants), or by scrapping the bottom of the ponds with a tractor and getting the salt shipped to where it will be processed.
are there examples of this that are already set up? sounds like a wonderful system
100 square miles of desert for an experiment would be just a speck. Make the panels substantial. Put them 50-60 feet high and dedicate half the power consumption to the conversion of the unusable land underneath the panels. the rest of the power goes to the grid.
@@jamesbell8861 Can you get together with the author above to create a short description of the infrastructure needed for that 640 section demo project? Someone will need to be recruited for cost estimates. If the two of you are willing to work together I can help.
Please contact James Bell with practical content below. I posit a joint written project description. I'm willing to be involved You?
I'll add to my previous offer that the US company, Tracker Sled, may offer a technology that can be combined into creating modular solar installation. Perhaps that's possible. Perhaps not but without some creative thing, which both of you have, and creative inquiry and team building we won't k ow if any of it is feasible.
@JustAThink any thoughts.
I have 85 PV panels on my house roof (installed 9 years ago) but wanted to build a wooden frame in the garden to put some more. I wanted to grow grapes in the same space though. Now I see I can do both 😉
World class banter in the intro. Thank you for the mind bending technological information. It is truly appreciated!
I've talked about this for years. That solar panels mounted above the crops and farming can coexist with the right crops.
Absolutly agree with this aproach!! I had thinked about this, after seeing a huge solar plant have been instaled neer my small city.
This is absolutly it.
Any inteligent farmer-invester must take this aproach.
Very nice application technology, thanks for sharing. I just realized this can also be very nicely combined with keeping farm animals in a field. It would be a welcome patch of shade for cows or other animals that often stand in the blistering warmth of the sun with all the trees in sight cut down....
In india agrivoltics makes more sense as most states provide free electricity to agriculture pump sets, which as now comes from 75 percent fossil fuel based.Win-Win.
When billions are already going to subsidize agriculture, it seems like it would be easy to find money for this kind of partnership. Farmers end up with a net gain, environmental impacts are reduced, and citizens end up better off.
Who's opposing this?
So-called "energy producers"
"Anti-tax" "no government" "free market" political types, who believe investing common money for the benefit of future generations is "against the bible".
(I.e. "private companies can do it if it's profitable; and its morally wrong for government to encourage change." ...those people.)
@@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475 Strongly disagree with your with "whom" is against...The Bible strongly and clearly states that taking care of the earth dutifully and it's wealth of creatures as well as proper care of agriculture are absolute basics of humanity's mission. (Of course treating each other good or bad with kindness and compassion goes right along with that, obviously.) Maybe you should read it for yourself and see if you agree?
@@hoperules8874 Don't tell me, tell the GOP fanatics who scream "foul" about environmental regulations. Then claim they're "the Party of the bible" every election cycle.
Simply put, greedy scum that are afraid it will cut into their profits.
I was very happy when I saw the new Chipotle ad briefly mention agrovoltaics.
nice combination especially for country's where it is hot and dry but the hurdle is the amount of scaffolding required to mount the panels and all the control mechanisms just makes stuff expensive really fast, translucent panels fixed in place i think will be the way to go with this
And perhaps having a wind farm on the same average to get better utilization of any transmission infrastructure built(the efficiency losses appear to be low enough for this to be a good combination)
Something to also consider is the fact that our current global food system could easily feed several more billion people at the current production rates, as ~40% of food is lost along the long and inefficient food supply chains, starting from crop loss at the farms till the other side of the chain on the retail/consumer side, where it gets discarded.
As important as increasing our current productive capacity is, we also have to not only do everything we can to localize food production to minimize waste, but also work on our "food waste discipline" - a lot of of perishable foods such as greens and vegetables go bad in our kitchens before being eaten, and we as a society need to actively work on becoming a lot more conscious about food waste and not take fresh produce for granted.
I really like all your videos. I wish more ppl would see them.
Great idea.
In windy areas, big wind turbines are also a way to go.
One turbine can generate 2MW. Cost these days is about US$1.2m per MW. The turbine is clear off the ground, and so the land is still available for farming.
Made me smile when you said you went on a whole plant diet and stated the fact that it would immediately solve the problem if everybody did it. Me too.
I gave up meat for awhile. It was fine, but I did miss it. After some research, I decided to start eating chicken and some types of fish again, and that's been sustainable for me now for 14 years. Of course, some people want to make an impact but won't go, ahem, "cold turkey". The good news is that someone cutting back on their meat consumption (especially beef, sheep/lamb, and pork) by half also generates half of the benefits, and that is a huge impact!
Love the idea of trailer-mounted PV. It could lead to modular raised-bed gardens and power supply for off-grid living.
Or even just rentals where you don't have a say in what gets put on the roof and need to take your stuff with you when you move.
This is one I like so long as the agricultural land is no lost.
The light saturation problem is why vertical farming works the light is spread out over more plants.
Just yesterday, I re-visited Jack's Solar Garden APV project here in Boulder County, Colorado. They've got a couple of universities as research partners.
Wonderful video. I’m studying agrivoltaic implementation in my Master’s program and the amount of ways people can push back against the technology are incredible. Overall, I’ve found that agrivoltaics are extremely useful in the arid climate where my research is located, thanks to water loss minimization and increased shade for plants. It’s quite a challenge, though, as the county I’m studying has specific height restrictions on solar panels so you “don’t have to look at them”! Lol
I saw a video online where solar pannels were placed in a desert and grass stated growing under them so much so that sheep had to be brought in to keep it under control.
That sounds interesting, link to video please
@@Belioyt China has done that also. You could try searching for those videos, (i don't have that link).
The age of farmers is a concern. In North America a lot of farmers are getting old, and their kids don't want to be farmers. So farmers are trying to sell farmland and instead of making food. They are selling it to developers. We need the youth to get into farming. It's great if you have an additional source of income for the farm, and hopefully lowering the costs of running a farm. If the PV's will help improve the soil, maybe it will lead to better and healthier crops as a bonus. Governments should be providing assistance, or tax breaks, or low interest loans to help farmers upgrade. If we don't have any clean water or food. Humanity won't last very long.
There was a studying done in California about covering water canals with solar panels. Potential huge water saving and energy savings
Rust could be a problem.
tried to find the study, but failed miserably. Could you please give a hint or more precise description? would really appreciate that
A great proportion of corn grown in the USA is used to make methanol for transportation. It was said at some point in time that this proportion alone would suffice to relieve hunger worldwide...
Yes and it only happen because of tax considerations. There is no tax on fuel for farms and alternative fuel. Thus using the same amount of oil in growing crops can still make a farmer come out ahead on the deal.
ethanol.
It's basically a subsidy for farmers to grow a crop that can't be used for human consumption.
Its too bad the USDA doesn't offer something like this for nitrogen fixing crops like legumes.
But as long as Big Agra has a hold on Washington that's never going to happen.
@@lylestavast7652 yes! Ethanol, I stand corrected
"and the technology could play a major role in defusing the conflict..."
The technology: "put it on a pole"
Yeah it's fascinating how little things can have a huge impact.
Its like airplanes now have wings that don't end in a point, but angle up.
It's a simple change but once they figured out how much fuel it saves, they even retrofitted it.
Yeah, I've always wondered how on earth would you think of putting a solar panel directly on the ground and never have a thought of using all that space for anything else.
If that ground is fertile - well, grow a grass in it at least. If ground is bad for farm, then build something under it. A small plant, warehose, or anything will be of use.
@@DimaZheludko " If ground is bad for farm, then build something under it. A small plant, warehouse, or anything will be of use." Or even; oblige factories, warehouses and other etc to retrofit pv panels on their rooves, car parks to put up pv panels over them etc and get your 1% coverage in urban areas which are already eyesores....
You are an inspiration of hope for the future of our planet and all the lives involved, thank you.
I think a similar system is in place at Kochi airport in India, which was the first airport to run solely on solar power. They have vegetables growing below the solar panels and the produce is also sold in a shop in the airport.
Edit: there is also floating solar panels over reservoirs
Renouncing animal products (meat, dairy, eggs, fish, etc.) is one of the best things you can do. It's way better for the environment, better for the animals and better for your health.
Wrong. New Age crap !
I love it when one can do more than one thing at once. Economics drive change more than anything else, so if it makes or saves money, then maybe it's something that will actually happen.
Chris B -- Well said. Let's put a price on carbon (carbon tax) and let the economics work their magic.
@@barry28907 In Europe there is already one, and it’s keep getting up
@@barry28907 If adding agrophotovoltaics makes farmers money, then you won't need a carbon tax. I live in Texas where they are not eager to do anything for the environment, but they lead the country in wind energy because it is profitable. As another example, I put solar on my roof at no cost (basically) because their production more than offsets the cost. Where I live, it's a no brainer. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't hold corporations accountable for their environmental impact, but they often have the best lawyers, accountants, and lobbyists so it is difficult.
I also think mounting panels over parking lots would be a great use as it would shade the cars and lot lowering the temperature in the cars and keeping the pavement below foot burning level. Another reason is this is wasted space and is better to place panels here than using land just for them.
This sounds consistent with the best principles of permaculture, extremely exciting !!
really glad to see that this topic gains popularity, thank you so much for promoting it!
As you mentioned in the video, there is a really big issue with area functionality in lots of densely populated countries (e.g. Germany).
One of the major institutional barriers lies in not quite precise legislative norms considering the payoff for the producers of green energy from APV modules. Current norms don´t include any insight on that issue, and the modification of the legislature - you know, how much time it sometimes needs, especially in political systems with lots of influential veto players and existing interests in saving the status quo. There is an obvious need to promote pilot projects in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system and, at the same time, the urgency of proper institutional support for this one.
The idea is already here, the will of individual actors, enterprises etc. can be seen as well, therefore the initial step would be the accumulation of resources of those actors in order to elaborate/demonstrate/prove the viability of such systems at least at regional levels, jumping then over to the national one.
2:30 into the video. One of the problems with our current system of agriculture is that livestock have been removed from parts of the system, reducing many elements required for soil health. Livestock are key to improving soil quality, and therefore nutrient density and sustainability of crops, as well as permeability of that soil for water retention and eventual replenishment of aquifers. Correct management of livestock improves sustainability overall. See the Savory Institute (for holistic management), permaculture, and regenerative agriculture for further information.
What a great video post. I had an idea to install solar panels as a carport on my drive. A few years ago not APV, but you get the idea.
I don't know about other places, but in my country farmers are struggling economically, even with subsidies. If they could invest moderately in systems like these and sell the excess energy, maybe living as a farmer could be more viable. Sounds like a win to me.
That sucks to hear. What country are you from?
@@sementhrower420 Norway. One of the richest countries in the world.
@@Vermilicious Well you don't have a lot of sun, but you do gas ! Will it run out soon?
Grass captures energy from the sun but humans can't eat grass. Grazing animals turn the grass into very nutrient-dense food for humans. Growing and using agricultural crops usually produces a lot of carbon. How the food you eat was farmed is what counts.
Grazing animals are incredibly inefficient at producing food from grass and additionally produce methane while doing so. If we're worried about efficiency and emissions, plant-based foods is the way to go.
An inspiring video thanks Dave, and the principle of agrovoltaics could clearly be especially useful in countering the effects of desertification in arid regions.
I have long thought of this concept. My method would be to mount the PV modules in a chess-board like configuration above the agricultural land. Imagine the black/dark squares of a chess board representing the PV modules. As the sun rises from the east, sunlight moves overhead to its zenith & sets in the west; plants beneath would alternately receive strong sunlight & partial shade. Benefits of less heat wilting, lower transpiration, cooler temperatures & better working conditions for people beneath, higher PV efficiency. Probably of little value where I reside in Colchester, UK; but in high solar radiation countries eg. Africa, Australia, USA, India; this would double the productivity of the land in terms of food production & energy production.
I have my own solar PV arrays, substantial renewable energy investments elsewhere & am an ex-mechanical design engineer.
Best regards to all, as always, JohnnyK from the UK.
As an Australian i think this is a great idea, if i had a farm i would definitely look into it. Hell if i ever want solar panels i may have to put them above the vege patch out the back, sorry probably not that helpful
Seems like your country might be the best place for APV.
His "wilful ignorance" comment about Australia was 'ignorant. We are well ahead of every other country on the planet in terms of watts per capita generated by PV solar panels and in the top couple for proportion of energy generated by solar. Our grids are already starting to have issues due to the massive growth in rooftop solar. 'Agrisolar' would be pointless. Rooftop solar will more than meet out needs.
@@kirkc9643 When coal industries shrink we will need more than our roof tops.
Fortunately We have 8 million billion m2 of sunshine every day all year, we can power the world, refine minerals, produce hydrogen, power our industries and all our vehicles.
We have the same massive area of wind.
We have a stable trusted society.
Kirk Claybrook and yet Australia generates over 50% of its electricity from coal. This video was about combining solar panels and agriculture for the benefit of both energy generation and the crops. Australia is already experiencing significant impacts due to climate change; any reduction in its continued burning and export of coal should be welcomed. I am sure improved crop yields and reduced water consumption would also be useful!
@@kirkc9643 I hope that's true. As far as I'm aware Australia still has a massive problem with electricity supply and soaring prices. That's why Elon Musk took the 'battery bet'.
There is a large solar array that was finished last year east of Cincinnati, and another now starting construction a few miles farther east. Both locations were farmed until the land was dedicated to the solar arrays. Seems now such a waste not to combine the two functions, but this would require a partnership between the farmer and the power company.
I think this works very well for vines, but getting the angles right and allowing the farmer to still have room to operate the machinery looks like quite a balancing act. The portable approach looks more reasonable than a "planted" steel structure that doesn't move.
Thank you for the video, very interesting indeed.
Yeah, so important AGP! Really one of the greatest solutions! It could even be combined with Agroforestry methods - even more benefits! Thank you very much for this video!
It is a wonderful idea. There are utility company and insurance hurdles in the US that are very challenging to overcome. Innovation and change in those areas is sorely needed. This is likely the case in most of the world.
Best opener yet...
Can imagine Vince Dale would find this interesting.
Dale Vince...but I know what you meant :-) ...and I agree.
@@JustHaveaThink Ha! Right. All those years working in a departmental waiting room are catching up on me...
Plant based diet and economy is the way to a better future for the mankind. Thank you for continuing to raise the awareness🙏🙏
"I've decided to just give it to you straight" just after all the veggie pics...just awesome! On a more serious note, the more we learn, the more awesome plants become. To quote Dr. Greger, "Is there anything kale can't do?"
Interesting point about Australia. Didn’t realize the dependency on the grid for agricultural land.
Water pumps for irrigation!
So, my biggest concern when it comes to agriculture and photovoltaics, are hazards related to run off based off photovoltaic construction materials. Many PV systems use lead, cadmium, and other chemicals that can be hazardous to our health when it comes to crops and waterways if they leach into the soil. As the panels age or if they become damaged from weather, they are more likely to begin to deposit hazardous chemicals related to their composition into the surrounding area which can also have an impact on the local flora and fauna as well.
If they have safer alternatives that are abundantly available for panel construction, this could be a good idea, but it is something that does need to be considered in this type of application.
Might be interesting to make the frames of the solar panels from hemp. That would eliminate all the aluminum, Bifacial panels (solar cells front and rear) are sealed tempered glass on both sides. Standard O&M yearly protocols on solar installation (specified in the utility's interconnection agreement) would find damaged panel(s) and they would be replaced.
I was thinking about catching the rain off the solar panels in a gutter system that brought the run off to a tank.
My goal was to be able to use that run off to water the plants as needed. They'd get watered during the rain in the space between panels.
Now that you mentioned the chemicals that could harm us, it rules out my idea. I did wonder if the water could be tested for chemicals before being used to water the crops. Or do the tests needed take too long?
@Jessica Strickland I'd imagine that you could test the water. Materials degrade over time, so I'd recommend doing it at least once a month and you might want to look for testing kits that specifically test for the materials that are in whatever panels you choose to go with. Some of those chemicals aren't usually found in typical water sources, so a standard water testing kit might not be adequate.
Some water testing kits don't take very long to use, but I'm not sure if some of the tests for chemicals not typically found in water might need to be mailed off or if they could be completed at home. I know the water quality report where I live tests for all kinds of industrial contaminants that many other cities don't commonly test for, but that is because there are a lot of manufacturing plants near the river used for our water supply and back in the 1970s they were dumping Kepone into the river which is a very toxic chemical which caused massive ecological destruction up a large portion of the Chesapeake Bay. It wreaked havoc on the oyster population. Oysters are filter feeders and help to keep the water in the bay cleaner for the other creatures that live there. With a declining oyster population, the water became a lot dirtier, and many other sea creatures started to die off as a result.
Strontium titianite is sometimes used in some types of solar panels, and some forms of strontium are radioactive, but I'm not sure which isotopes are being used nor how commonly it is used in panel production.
Barium titanite is sometimes used as well. Barium is also radioactive and often used in x-ray technology, but from what I gather, it is much worse of an inhalation hazard and not carcinogenic. It breaks down pretty easily in sulfuric acid, which can be found in acid rain, so depending on the substances found in the rain in your area, it could be a bigger issue or a smaller one.
Lead, cadmium, and antimony are very common substances used in solar panels, but I don't think the cadmium and antimony are at high enough levels to be a real health concern. I'm not sure about the lead, but that is a chemical tested in most standard water kits, so it could be tested for rather quickly.
These chemicals I listed are why solar panels can not be recycled and are considered hazardous waste. I wouldn't say not to do your plan, but I would definitely test the water before agricultural use.
@@kraziecatclady Hi - I have not seen reports on leaching from solar modules. If you have any reports or studies I can see, would much appreciate it! Thank you!
The more I watch your channel, you should have named it something like “Think it thru” (Most likely the meaning behind the name already). Implying that people do something other than what they most often seem to do, come to a very strong, and often, opinionated/conviction supporting their thoughts. Without “Just hav(ing)e a think” in the first place, before getting upset.
Either way, the point being, please keep up the great work. Thank you.
Could you do a video on Hybrid solar panels? They have a solar pv panel that has a water cooling loop attached. That water can then be used for hot water in a building. So you can achieve greater energy efficiency of the PV but also a longer lifespan for the panels because the panels are kept cool.
I have poly pipe that I attach to the hot water heater every summer. In Texas this means the water entering the tank is hotter than the water in the tank. We time hot water usage like washing clothes for the afternoon. Since we also use solar panels this is a big help.
Edit: I need to do a video on this 😁
It seems like the obvious thing to do when panels suffer from too much heat, but are right there collecting useful heat energy we can use for hot water. Don't know why all panels aren't already made like that, unless it makes manufacturing or warranting too costly, or makes the panels bigger with less output per unit area.
I love your no adds comment.
We don't want to add to our over consumption problem 👍
"carrot" jokes and acknowledgement of plant-based diets as a sustainable way forward plus a new way of combining solar and agriculture..... awesome!
This sounds like an ideal way to produce ginseng crops. Today black mesh tarpaulins are used to reduce sunlight hitting the crops. Should use APV to replace the tarpaulins. Reduced sunlight is required to emulate the deep forest environment where ginseng originally came from.
Great point!
For a moment, you gave me hope.
I am a member of the Alameda County Agricultural Advisory Committee. Surrounded by 5 University of California Solar Campuses we opted to advise an exclusive agrivoltaics policy for rural Alameda County to enhance our local agroeconomy, create regenerative agriculture opportunities, and do our part to save the planet.
Incredibly edifying video as always. Have been thinking about this for quite a while, the possibility of sharing land. I believe not only that collaboration is key but that we can use the same resource for multiple purposes. Take care!
I agree. A lateral thinking approach to land use will save on all sorts of resources.
Another use for the land that would be well suited to combine with these other two uses is wind energy.
not eating meat would also aid in desertification. There is a large amount of land that is maintained as pasture, that would desertify without the impact and management of humans and animals.
This is exactly what Australia needs. Especially as it heats up.
That's correct but I would rather they tap into ancient knowledge of the original owners of the land on how they were able to terraform. Australia wasn't always a dust bowl.
It doesn't even need to be a solar panel system...heat exchange technology would work too....
Australia should just be embracing everything solar, especially in the less productive marginal areas
Actually no. His "wilful ignorance" comment about Australia was 'ignorant. We are well ahead of every other country on the planet in terms of watts per capita generated by PV solar panels and in the top couple for proportion of energy generated by solar. Our grids are already starting to have issues due to the massive growth in rooftop solar (currently at about 20%). Rooftop solar will more than meet out needs. 'Agrisolar' would be pointless.
PV technology and one less minister for energy. The current one isn’t very good at thinking about stuff like this
Thank you for all the valuable information you post. I am passing this video to my sons, one is a farmer and the other an electrician. WHo knows...?
rooftop farming in combination with agrivoltaics is the way of the urban farming future.
Thank u very much. This method is being tested in the North of Israel where water (no declination plans currently exist). I think the corps are either appels or blueberries.
I will try to find a link to the article in English and share it here.
At first you had my curiosity, but after showing the veggie-phallics, you had my attention.
Lets say you do this in Pakistan. Then in the framework under the panels you mount pipes with nossels that spray out water like mist..
This can be run by the electricity of the panels, it will keep the plants watered and also help cool down the solar panels.
Thank you. That was fascinating.
Please consider having a think about permaculture and permaculture food forest.
Seconded (as I did when you posted this on the last video!). I think it's especially pertinent on this video though. The need for this method is fueled by the fact that we grow monocrops in regimented fashion. The solar panels are simply providing the function of a tree in this particular arrangement, it's just that we chopped down all the trees to make way for the monocrop. It's always the same with these things, we need to return to basic principles and question all our practices. Not simply try and bolt on more and more solutions to fix the problems nature solved for us previously. The agrivoltiacs (even the name is contrived) solution is just another way to perpetuate the monocrop system instead of just admitting it is the problem. It's a bit like promoting electric cars rather than just admitting that transporting people individually in 1 tonne vehicles is not, and will never be, a solution to travel. The solution lies in design of our living systems (towns and cities) around walking and local abundance just as it is in permaculture.
@@ricos1497 I was expecting maybe aquaponics is where we are going or maybe their is not one solution which we'll be using. And getting a lot more efficient with labgrown meat
@@ricos1497 I was late last video so I wanted to mention it again since I was so early. It can fix so many of our problems and significantly reduce our effect on the climate.
@@autohmae I disagree with regard to lab grown meat. If it follows the same trajectory as every other tech food solution we'll see a race to become the monopoly provider of lab meat, alongside massive lobbying to prevent farmed meat under the auspices of animal cruelty (I'm not suggesting that the industrial meat system isn't cruel). It's the Monsanto seeds of the meat world. It's all about ownership of a human need/right. Just like self driving is about owning the means to commute, sold as some environmental boon. It's about power, as always.
I am thinking about urban agriculture, and letting geese graze the grass of the green space in our streets, but more importantly, turning our parks into food forests with grazing animals and not mere grass places to play in, and encouraging housewives to grow veggies at home andd perhaps sell them to small businesses which are okay with unconventional non-commercial cultivars of vegetables.
I'm always constructive and helpful. ;-) And in all seriousness I think the comments on your videos tend to be of much higher quality than many channels on TH-cam. There's always someone in here with actual experience or an informed opinion on what you're talking about. Not usually me, but there's always _someone._
Agrivoltaics sound like a good idea, kind of halfway between a greenhouse and an open field. It's easy to imagine the algorithm on that French system controlling irrigation as well as the orientation of the solar panels, since it already needs to measure humidity. APV makes intuitive sense for high value cash crops grown in a relatively small area, but I'm not sure the numbers would work for an average farm, for two reasons: that higher initial capital cost and the remote location of most farms, far from electrical grids. But if it could work anywhere on a large scale, it sounds like Australia would be the place. The special challenges of farming in Australia makes APV an attractive solution. I hope they can work out the cultural or financial barriers or whatever is the problem and make it work there.
The main value of APV is probably the way it can combine the interests of different land users, like you said. Farms and solar power working together. Friends instead of enemies! It could be the solution anywhere the two are in apparent conflict.
I read an article recently that sort of touched on this, although it wasn't true APV. There's a study going on in New York state looking at how solar panels can be combined with sheep herding. Apparently the sheep do a better job of clipping the grass around the panels than a lawnmower could, so instead of constantly paying for lawn maintenance solar panel installations could get sheep owners to bring in their flocks and do it for free. Everyone wins. They were also talking about expanding the study to include the idea of putting bee hives under the panels. If anything a true APV system would just expand the possibilities by raising the height of the panels and growing something useful under them, although you couldn't bring in sheep then. All these possibilities could be combined in the real world, with solar facilities and farms doing whatever seems optimal to maximize the use of their land.
I love this, hope to see this soon on the agriculture fields here in the Netherlands too..
But I do see a little problem though... The crops grown on these fields rotate each year, so one year potatoes, next year corn, year thereafter its full with Tulips, and then a few years with grass where diary cows are grazing.. I can imagine one crop or the other has its own sunlight needs.. Like the tulips need a lot of sun in the early spring time, and Corn can grow upto 4 meters high sometimes... And they use gigantic combines to harvest these crops, which may not go together with such Agrivoltaic structures.
Anyway, a very good idea, but I am afraid it is not viable in all agricutural situations, and farmers could be better off to permanently reserve some land for Solar panels only... Whic I see happen in my country, here and there paddocks are covered with solar panels, low to the ground, and the land below it is not used for anything else.
4:19 Shows farm equipment under the solar panels
PV Agriculture is best for vegetables and animal grazing which need less sunlight than crop grain plants like wheat, rice, barley, and corn which need bright full sun. Furthermore, vegetable farms and solar farms need to be close to a big city, while grain farms can be much further from a big city, because vegetables are perishable and power lines are expensive to built, while grains can be stored for months.
@@catprog Ever seen a 9 meter wide, 4 meter high combine? These things are huge! Much bigger than that tractor in the video.
@@MarcoNierop I had a ride on mower bigger than that tractor.
The US Dept. of Energy Loan Program, now run by Jigar Shah, should take proposals for a large agrivoltaics pilot field or two. Their loans to large solar farms in 2010 helped kick off the era of big utility solar by lowering financing costs. They could do the same again here.
Hmmm... I think we could add some vertical wind turbines too. For the absolute *maximum efficiency* of it all.
Generally wind requires a ridge on land... PV and ridges dont work that well. So symbiotic
Hi, APV works really great with cattle. Animals spend like 80% of their time under panels' shadow, and graze more while being less stressed. Does not work with goats, as they tend to jump on panels and eat wires.
Still, APV's issues are the same as photovoltaics : lifecycle (environemental impact of their fabrication and recycling), and lifetime (especially trackers systems)
source : Agrivoltaics 2021
Could you do a study on the affects of lab grown meat compared to factory farming? Love the channel.
Even better: a video on regenerative agriculture... 😉
@@patvb3243 He actually did two a while back. th-cam.com/video/yZopUOb_7wA/w-d-xo.html
I did do Lab Gown meat a couple of years ago. It was one of the lowest viewed videos on the channel. That kinda told me something!
@@JustHaveaThink Oh great! It's been on my mind since I saw an article about a startup hoping to have FDA approval by the end of the year in the U.S., I'll have to check out your old video.
@@JustHaveaThink that was then, but there's kind of a hype nowadays for meat replacements so...
No-till and silvoculture agriculture along with pressured grazing techniques solves many water problems, but photovoltaics can work in niche areas and do good things. We need to realize low tech's utility, too.
Photovoltaics could actually increase arable land in Oz because it would reduce water needs.
"unlike the carrot" I really thought that was funny.