Giving Compass' Take:

• Studies show that a process called agrivoltaics (farming crops under solar panels) can boost food production, electricity, and save water. 

• How can philanthropists help advance progress on energy-saving processes in agriculture? How does this help drive growth in addressing climate change?

• Learn about the transition to renewable energy farms.

Building resilience in renewable energy and food production is a fundamental challenge in today’s changing world, especially in regions susceptible to heat and drought.

Agrivoltaics, also known as solar sharing, is an idea that gained traction in recent years. Few studies, however, have monitored all aspects of the associated food, energy, and water systems, and none have focused on dryland areas—regions that experience food production challenges and water shortages, but have an overabundance of sun energy.

“Many of us want more renewable energy, but where do you put all of those panels? As solar installations grow, they tend to be out on the edges of cities, and this is historically where we have already been growing our food,” says Greg Barron-Gafford, an associate professor in the School of Geography and Development at the University of Arizona and lead author of the paper in Nature Sustainability.

A recent study in Nature found that current croplands are the “land covers with the greatest solar PV power potential” based on an extensive analysis of incoming sunlight, air temperature, and relative humidity.

Using solar photovoltaic, or PV, panels and regional vegetables, the team created the first agrivoltaics research site at Biosphere 2. Professors and students, both undergraduate and graduate, measured everything from when plants germinated to the amount of carbon plants were sucking out of the atmosphere and the water they were releasing, to their total food production throughout the growing season.

They found that the agrivoltaics system significantly affected three factors that affect plant growth and reproduction—air temperatures, direct sunlight, and atmospheric demand for water.

Read the full article about farming with solar panels at Futurity.