Source: SANDBOX SOLAR LLC submitted to
INTEGRATING AGRIVOLTAICS: STUDYING THE SYNERGISTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRANSPARENT SOLAR PANELS AND HORTICULTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1019484
Grant No.
2019-33610-29791
Cumulative Award Amt.
$100,000.00
Proposal No.
2019-00771
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2019
Project End Date
Feb 29, 2020
Grant Year
2019
Program Code
[8.12]- Small and Mid-Size Farms
Recipient Organization
SANDBOX SOLAR LLC
341 63RD AVE
GREELEY,CO 806348841
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
In order to meet growing demands of renewable energy, photovoltaic (PV) developments will require significant land space for ground-mounted PV systems. This growing demand is creating competition for land resources, and small and mid-size farms will be challenged. This challenge can be reformed into an environmental and financial opportunity for these farms with the increased research of co-locating the same area of land with solar energy and agriculture (Agrivoltaics). Technological breakthroughs in efficiency and transparency of solar panels can be directly applied to agriculture. We will study various types of solar transparency in the agricultural setting so we can bridge the gap between current agricultural practices and solar energy development. This study is a continuation of a pilot study conducted this past summer as a collaboration between Sandbox Solar and Colorado State University.This study will replicate our pilot research on a larger scale with documentation and replications of growing conditions. Based on previous research, we expect to see a marginal decrease of crop yield depending on the panel transparency. The study will reveal the exact growing conditions and suitable crop pairing with various transparent solar panels. Anticipated applications are PV integrated greenhouses or raised carport PV structures. The photovoltaic energy of these applications can either be self sustaining for the farm in order to reduce its carbon footprint and energy costs, or the energy can be sold back to the utility as a revenue source and sustainable community initiative.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
40253102020100%
Knowledge Area
402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
5310 - Machinery and equipment;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;
Goals / Objectives
Goals:Demonstrate that Agrivoltaics technology can create benefits for small and mid-size farmers. Identify a market opportunity for Agrivoltaics.Objectives:To develop a better understanding of how numerous crop types respond to growing conditions under various types of solar technologies.Research various new solar technology's productivity with specialty crops growing beneath.Accurately document the growing conditions under a solar array of new technology. Accurately document the water and nutrient consumption of specialty crops under each solar array.Use this development as a model for economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture.Technical Objectives:Design and construct 9 different photovoltaic array structures with the same crops under all of them.Construct a 3 preliminary tunnel structures with photovoltaic panels mounted to it.Document the power output from the solar panels.Document the differences between plants growing under the panels against plants that are growing out in the open sunlight.Run an economic and feasibility study at the small to mid-sized farm scale.Accurately measure all of the economic variables: energy used, energy produced, nutrients used, water used, cost of array
Project Methods
Each array will be set up via pole mount, creating an individual test plot of approximately 60 square feet. The pole mounts will be lined up in a long east-west row with panels facing south. Each pole mount will be separated by a minimum of five feet of spacing in order to ensure limited disruption and overlap of shade and sunlight (Figure 7.4). These test rows have existing irrigation drip lines set up with on/off valves. Sandbox Solar will design, procure, and construct these solar pole mounts with the budget proposed for the Phase I research.Beginning immediately on 7/1/2019, our team will begin planting and conducting the research for Phase I. Growing Condition Data: Before the crops are sown and while the crops are starting their growing process, we will record numerous growing conditions under the panels. The exact date will be recorded when the plant begins its growing process. With the correct instruments, we will be able to record Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) spectral levels, soil temperature, soil moisture, and ambient temperature. PAR is a spectral reading of the visible light spectrum from 400-700 nanometers. While PAR is a reading of the entire visible light spectrum, vegetation only uses certain wavelengths within the visible spectrum to for productive growth. We will use a spectral PAR meter, or a spectrometer, to fully document the light conditions under the solar panels. To record the soil crust temperature, we will use an infrared thermometer. To record the soil temperature and the soil moisture beneath the crust, we will use semi-permanent soil probes that will wirelessly relay the real-time data to record. Similarly, we will have HOBOware™ temperature monitoring systems set up to capture and record the ambient temperature under the arrays throughout the season. Figure 7.5 shows example data from our pilot research of max temperatures recorded. Plant Growth & Production Data: Along with the growing condition data, we will be collecting numerous types of growth and plant production data. This data will include, but is not limited to, germination rates, plant height, greens cut weight, fruition rates, and marketable fruit weights. We will meticulously weigh the amount of seed of each crop variety going under each array and then document the number of sprouts from the uniform weight of seed. For plant height, we will measure the average of the three tallest leaves in each plant of each of the cut leafy green varieties. For other crops, like peppers or tomatoes, we will measure the height of the apical meristem. For the cut weight, we will cut each marketable leafy green plant at the basal rosette and then take an average of each species in each growing location. For fruition rates, we will count the number of marketable fruits on each plant at multiple times throughout the growing season. Keeping the marketable fruits separated by location, we will weigh them and average them by the number of fruits. Control Group: We will document the differences between the growing conditions, growth rates, and fruition rates of crops growing under the panels compared to the same species of crops that are growing in full sunlight. We will replicate this data by having three control crop groups growing in full sunlight.One of the main objectives of the project is to accurately measure and share all the economic variables: energy used, energy produced, nutrients used, and water used. The documentation of these separate variables will provide us with a much better understanding of the system as a whole and how profitable these agrivoltaic structures can be to the consumer. For irrigation, we will set up existing drip irrigation lines that will be controlled through an automated central irrigation system set on a weekly schedule. For irrigation and water use metrics, we will document the amount of water used by recording the times and dates the irrigation system is running. CSU's standard existing practice is to distribute nutrients in liquid form through the irrigation lines. All of the nutrients used in our project will be certified organic liquid fertilizers. We will document the number of applications and amount of liquid fertilizer throughout the season via spreadsheet format.From July - September, we will be keeping records in the form of multiple written and shared cloud-based spreadsheets. We expect to collect data at least once a week throughout the trial. At the end of the growing season in September, all of our data will be compiled and converted into graph and infographic form.Based on the anticipated and actual results from the study, we plan to conduct interviews with small and mid-size farmers in October. We will identify a list of questions specifically discovering how the farmer may apply agrivoltaics to their farm, what types of crops are important to them, how agrivoltaics could positively affect their operations, what economic model would be easiest and most beneficial to implement, what type of equipment they use, and other questions that help identify a clear benefit. We anticipate that an adjustable or rotatable agrivoltaic plot or a solar high tunnel will be the most applicable uses cases with the energy from the solar being sold to utility for general use or community solar purposes. From December - January, we will select the three top business cases for agrivoltaics and conduct an economic and feasibility study. We anticipate that the three cases will be a solar high tunnel application, an adjustable solar array, or a greenhouse structure. The economic studies will also look at whether the solar array is sold to the farm for self-consumption in order to offset its own energy expenses or used to be sold back to the utility. The model will estimate the cost of the solar array and the cost to set up the entire agrivoltaic operation. Then the model will estimate the annual labor, material, and general operating expenses of both the solar and farm. These expenses will be modeled along with the financial benefit from crop yield and the solar energy production of the agrivoltaic farm. We project the results will show increased sustainable revenue to the farm. This economic study will be conducted with Sandbox Solar's project development economic analysis tool. This tool is standard for analyzing financial viability of solar projects by having inputs for expenses and estimating payback for solar generation. It can be easily modified to add expenses and revenue from a agrivoltaic farm operation. This study will generate a clear business model that we can use to move on to Phase II where we can begin commercializing and scaling.

Progress 07/01/19 to 02/29/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for this research is small and mid-size farmers. The farmers we are currently focused on are farmers that grow specialty crops and practice with flood, drip, and stationary sprinkler irrigation due to the operability of farming and solar energy. This concept and technology will have an overall benefit to these type of farmers across the united states as renewable energy increases in adoption rates. During this study we installed 9 pole mounts of various solar technologies to research the micro-climate and yield of specialty crops underneath the solar panels. We hosted a field day with CSU where local small and mid-size farmers, gardeners, and city & county staff visited the test plot and we were able to demonstrate the effectivness of agrivoltaics. We were able to meet our target market and receive feedback on the concept. Another major effort during this grant that we completed was the ability to attend various conferences in Colorado. We were able to present in front of over 100 small and mid-size farmers on the agrivoltaic concept and our findings from the year. This gave us a lot of feedback, contacts, and innovative ideas to progress the concept and technology. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Thomas Hickey was able to develop from a undergrad research assitant in the pilot projet to a more professional experience through this grant opportunity. Tom, Ian, and Mark atteneded multiple specialty crop related conferences in Colorado to learn more about the market, the issues farmer's face, and the concerns and excitement they have about agrivoltaics. Ian, Tom, and Mark also attended seminars, workshops,and one-on-one meetings hosted by CSU Ventures that have assisted with Intellectual Property development and creating a commercialization plan. The knowledge and information from this research has the potential to train and develop farmers and professionals in the practice of agrivoltaics. A proposed curriculum would include a basic knowledge of photovoltaics, how it works, safety, and on going management. The curriculum would alos curtail best practices when siting an agrivoltaic plot. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our team has taken numerous initiatives to disseminate information, results, and acquire feedback from our target audience. This activitiy has included some of the following: CSU College of Agriculture Field Day at the Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center (ARDEC). Tours and a presentation was given of the 9 pole mounts that were constructed and tested with agrivoltaics. Participants included small and mid-size farmers, city staff, county staff, staff from the Colorado Department of Agriculture, other professors, and more. An article and video about the research at CSU was created and disseminated to CSU's mailing list. https://agsci.source.colostate.edu/researchers-testing-whether-specialty-crops-solar-panels-can-thrive-together/ Northern Colorado Renewable Energy Society presentation. Ian Skor lead a presentation about the study which was presented to professionals in the renewable energy industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u_e4F4KdFc A presenation was given at the Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union conference. This conference drew in hundreds of small and mid-size farmers to Greeley, CO to discuss the state of the industry. A presenation was given at the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, Clean Energy Means Business Energy Buyers' Summit. This conference drew in active solar developers and project financiers in Colorado. Ian Skor participated on a panel with Dr. Mark Uchanski, Jordan Macknick (National Renewable Energy Laboratoy), and Milton Geiger (Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association) about agrivoltaics and the future in Colorado. This presenation was given to farmers all across Colorado at the Colorado Farm Show. The Colorado Farm Show is the biggest agricultural show in the State of Colorado. Survey? agpv conference abstract? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Impact Statement: In order to meet the growing demands for local food supply and renewable energy developments, significant land space is required. Agriculture and photovoltaics are currently in competition for this valuable limited land space, which can be reformed into a synergistic relationship. Co-locating agriculture and photovoltaics (solar electricity), known as agrivoltaics, has the ability to create an environmental and financial opportunity for rural communities and small to mid-sized farmers. Sandbox Solar and Colorado State University constructed replicated plots of agrivoltaics using various solar panel technologies with control plots to compare. These solar panel technologies varied by their transparency levels. This study was a continuation from a successful pilot study in 2018. Our team installed various specialty crops including greens, tomatoes, and peppers with drip irrigation across all plots. The team also installed temperature and soil moisture sensors at each array to measure climate conditions. Not only did we find that in most cases there was a marginal decrease in crop yield, but in some instances there was an increase in yield of crops. Our team also observed significant added benefits including decreased soil temperature, decreased air temperature, increased soil moisture retention, and hail protection. These results demonstrate that by optimizing solar racking and panel technologies to a specific specialty field crop operation can increase a farmer's economics while also generating renewable energy which can be used to offset energy costs at the farm or scaled up to provide renewable energy for communities. Our preliminary study of 5 counties in Colorado found that with existing technology, agrivoltaics can be applied on 593,410 acres. This equals roughly 6 million lbs of food and 200,000 MW of energy (equivalent to 19,230 homes annual electricity usage). Our findings were then scaled and applied across the U.S. which has revealed a potential impact of 4.3 million Acres for agrivoltaic development. Our team is transitioning to conducting market research on the financial model at which agrivoltaics can be applied. While we are still finalizing our economic and commercialization modeling, our preliminary results show a minimum added benefit of $1,000 per acre when farmers transition to this the agrivoltaic model.The research and technologies developed from this project can be applied in numerous different ways including by not limited to, greenhouses, livestock, aquaculture, and perhaps even horticulture in space. The Total Addressable Market of agrivoltaics can range from $35 billion to $150 billion. Objectives Met: To develop a better understanding of how numerous crop types respond to growing conditions under various types of solar technologies. Major activities completed: Installed 9 plots of agrivoltaic solutions. Data collected: Air Temperature / Soil Moisture / Radiospectrometer Readings / PAR Levels / Yield of dry weight and market weight of Lettuce, Kale, Tomato, Peppers Summary statistics and discussion of results: See Later Entries Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: See Later Entries Research various new solar technology's productivity with specialty crops growing beneath. Major activities completed / experiments conducted: We used online solar output data resources coupled with our data from our arrays and plant harvest data to document crop growth and solar production. We are currently working with CSU and Xcel Energy, the utility provider to hook up the panels. The panels are projected to start producing realtime energy in April 2020. Data collected: Solar Panel Temperature / NREL PVWatts Estimator Summary statistics and discussion of results: 18,500 kWh/yr Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: The solar is projected to produce energy as predicted by government models. Accurately document the growing conditions under a solar array of new technology. Major activities completed: Ambient Temperature / soil moisture / PAR / soil temperature. Data collected: Spreadsheets and graphs from the data loggers. Summary statistics and discussion of results: Control = 1600 PAR CdTe=650PAR Bifacial = 400 PAR Opaque = 380 PAR Opaque = Highest Soil Moisture Control = Lowest Soil Moisture Opaque = Lowest Temperature Control = Highest Temperature Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: The key outcomes and realizations were the unique crop growth micro-environments created by the various arrays. This micro-environment could provide ideal growing conditions for species not normally suited for certain climates. Design and construct 9 different photovoltaic array structures with the same crops under all of them. Major activities completed / experiments conducted: Constructed 9 separate photovoltaic arrays at CSU's ARDEC South Location. Data collected: N/a Summary statistics and discussion of results: N/a Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: N/a Document the differences between plants growing under the panels against plants that are growing out in the open sunlight Major activities completed / experiments conducted: Amended soil, planted, tended the plots, and harvested the crops. Data collected: Marketable fresh and dry weights, marketable and unmarketable fruit counts and weights. Graphs of results. Summary statistics and discussion of results: CdTe Semi-Transparent = more yield than control Bifacial = less yield than control Opaque = lowest yield Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: We speculate that the intense sun in Colorado may stress some plants out later in the season and later in the day. The shade could provide less heat stress and increased soil moisture when the crops need it the most. Run an economic and feasibility study at the small to mid-sized farm scale. Major activities completed / experiments conducted: We researched various business models and methods of deploying agrivoltaics. We used industry knowledge, direct farmer surveys, CSU Cooperative Extension, Small Business Development Center advisors. We selected 3 possible business models and evaluated their potential financial return. We researched the potential market size. Data collected: Farmer feedback and survey results. Estimated Costs and Revenue Summary statistics and discussion of results: We found that some agrivoltaic financial models are more attractive than others. Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: We know how to deploy agrivoltaics to create an attractive return on an investment. The grower surveys = interest at small & mid-sized farm scale Geospatial Analysis = Large Market Opportunity Objective Shortcomings: -Accurately document the water and nutrient consumption of specialty crops under each solar array. We were able to document the soil moisture levels, but it was difficult to monitor the water consumption due to regular watering across all plots. We were unable to obtain proper monitors for nutrient consumption of specialty crops, but we did study the radiospectrometry to identify if there was a difference in light quality underneath the panels. There is no difference in light quality. - Construct a preliminary tunnel structurewith photovoltaic panels mounted to it. We are in discussions with prospective partners right now for pilot projects and have letters of intent. - Accurately measure all of the economic variables: energy used, energy produced, nutrients used, water used, cost of array. Our team was able to track the cost of the solar array, which is valuable for estimating economics. We do have tools to estimate some of these factors. There was no energy used on site. Water usage was too difficult to monitor because the research farm drip lines come from the same well. We have been able to successfully create financial models based on what we currently know.

Publications


    Progress 07/01/19 to 02/29/20

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Our target audience for thie research conducted during this reporting period is small and mid-size farmers across Colorado. The farmers we are currently focused on arespecialty crops growerswith flood, drip, and stationary sprinkler irrigation due to the operability of farming and solar energy. This concept and technology will have an overall benefit to these type of farmers across the United States as renewable energy increases in adoption rates. It is becomingmore common that large solar investment companies and utilities are approaching small and mid-sized farmers with offers to buy or lease their farm land. This scenario is happening at rural and sub-urban farms alike due to the increasing demand for reneawable energy. In other instances, small and mid-sized farmers are looking to increase and diversify their revenue streams. Small and mid-sized farmers being faced with these options are at the forefront of our target audience. We are aiming to give them an alternate scenario where they offer some of their valuable land to generate renewable energy while also keeping that same plot of land in agricultural production. During this study we installed 9 pole mounts of various solar technologies to research the micro-climate and yield of specialty crops underneath the solar panels. We hosted a field day with CSU where local small and mid-size farmers, gardeners, and city & county staff visited the test plot and we were able to demonstrate the effectivness of agrivoltaics. We were able to meet our target market and receive feedback on the concept. Another major effort during this grant that we completed was the ability to attend various conferences in Colorado. Throughout Phase 1we were able to attend and present or table at 5 conferences including: The Colorado Farm Show, The Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union, The Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (CFVGA) Conference, the Western Colorado Food & Farm Forum. In total, we were able to present in front of over 100 small and mid-size farmers on the agrivoltaic concept and our findings from the year. This gave us a lot of feedback, numerous contacts, and innovative ideas to progress the concept and technology. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided professional development opportunities for the following people and groups: - Mark Uchanski (CSU): Mark has been able to develop new connections with organizations, institutions, and individuals throughout the Agrivoltaic and Food Energy Water Nexus (FEW Nexus) research communities. - New Curriculum - Conferences, workshops, seminars - New Connections - Ian Skor (Sandbox Solar): Through this project Ian has been able to engage a new set of researchers, collaborators, and customers which has helped broaden his expertise related to agrivoltaics and renewable energy integration techniques. This project has opened the door to numerous networking opportunities as well. Some of these opportunities include meetings and workshops with CSU Ventures, participation in the State of Colorado's AgEnergy Seminar series, speaking at COSSA innovative panel discussion, and meetings with the Greeley Economic Development Department. - Tom Hickey (Sandbox Solar): Tom has been able to spend his allotted hours developing new skills in the field and in the office. He has gained expertise in customer relations, designing photovoltaic array installations, and participation in educational and agricultural outreach. Through the educational outreach he has been able to connect with a new customer base and try to better understand what the farmers want and need to make their operations more profitable. that is now expressing a demand for renewable energy integration into existing infrastructure. This project has also opened the door to many networking opportunities for Tom on behalf of Sandbox Solar. These opportunities include meetings and workshops with CSU Ventures, weekly workshops with CSU's Geospatial Centroid, speaking at COSSA innovative panel discussion, and meetings with the Greeley Economic Development Department. Partially due to the research conducted in this project, Tom has an offer to attend CSU's Graduate Program as a Graduate Teaching and Researching Assistant in the Horticulture Department. He is planning on accepting this offer and attending CSU in the Fall of 2020. - Natalie Yoder (CSU): She developed new skills for specialty crop growing by participating in our research plot at ARDEC South. She helped throughout the entire growing season from soil amendment at the beginning of the season through the end of the study, collecting the harvest data. She was able to develop multitasking skills as she was participating in the agrivoltaic project in addition to various cultivar trials and overseeing daily operations at the facility. This project provided trainingopportunities for the following people and groups: - Undergrads: Zoe, Alissa - Centroid: Tabitha Covey, Caroline Norris, Ryan Uncapher - Sandbox Solar Install Crew - Drayton Browning ( financial model and engineering systems) - Tom Hickey - presenting and educational outreach How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?- CSU Agricultural Research and Development Educational Center (ARDEC South) Field Day:We were able to share our project, research, and future plans with a group of ~100 growers that came to the field day in late August 2019. Dr. Uchanski, Ian Skor, Tom Hickey, and Zoe Nealewere able speak to their experience during this event. Dr. Uchanksi continues to travel acros the state and country sharing the agrivoltaic research as part of his "virtual field day" presentation. - Agricultural Conferences:As previously noted, through this project we were able to attend 4different agricultural conferences across the state of Colorado. We were able to present at 2 of the conferences ( RMFU Innovation Fair &Colorado Farm Show - Energy Panel). We were able to table at all 4 events, sharing results and trading ideas with intriguedgrowers across the state. - CSU Horticulture Curriculum: Dr. Mark Uchanski has shared his knowledge and data with students and faculty of the Horticulture Department at CSU. - Organizational Outreach (CSU Extension, RMFU, CFVGA, etc.): The CSU Extension has helped us design and conduct a grower survey with an audience across the state of Colorado. Other farmer/rancher/grower organizations like the RMFU and the CFVGA have aided in sharing our results and our survey. All of these organizations have established connections with rural small and mid-sized farmers across teh state and across the region. We plan to continue our support to these organizations and their outreach efforts. We are constantly looking for ways to include more diverse and rural communities in our research and outreach. - CSU Source Article - This helped us reach the greater CSU community including students, faculty, and alumni. We receivedfeedback from numerous faculty members whichled us to many potential collabartive opportunities in the future. - Youtube Videos: These two videos can reach audiences interested in agrivoltaics across the globe.One video was produced by the CSU Agricultural Sciences Department. Another video was recorded and produced by NCRES (Northern Colorado Renewable Energy Society) after Ian Skor presented on agrivoltaics at a chapter meeting October 2019. The videos have nearly 1,000 views combined. - Greeley School Distrcit (Northridge High School STEM Capstone Class & Brentwood Middle School) :Sandbox Solar was able to present on agrivoltaics and interact with High School and Middle Schol students at the respective schools in Greeley Colorado. There is now an ongoing dialogue between Sandbox Solar and the Northridge High School STEM Capstone class as the students set off to design and build an agrivoltaic greenhouse prototype during the Spring 2020 semester. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Impact Statement: In order to meet the growing demands for local food supply and renewable energy developments, significant land space is required. Agriculture and photovoltaics are currently in competition for this valuable limited land space, which can be reformed into a synergistic relationship. Co-locating agriculture and photovoltaics (solar electricity), known as agrivoltaics, has the ability to create an environmental and financial opportunity for rural communities and small to mid-sized farmers. Sandbox Solar and Colorado State University constructed replicated plots of agrivoltaics using various solar panel technologies with control plots to compare. These solar panel technologies varied by their transparency levels. This study was a continuation from a successful pilot study in 2018. Our team installed various specialty crops including greens, tomatoes, and peppers with drip irrigation across all plots. The team also installed temperature and soil moisture sensors at each array to measure climate conditions. Not only did we find that in most cases there was a marginal decrease in crop yield, but in some instances there was an increase in yield of crops. Our team also observed significant added benefits including decreased soil temperature, decreased air temperature, increased soil moisture retention, and hail protection. These results demonstrate that by optimizing solar racking and panel technologies to a specific specialty field crop operation can increase a farmer's economics while also generating renewable energy which can be used to offset energy costs at the farm or scaled up to provide renewable energy for communities. Our preliminary study of 5 counties in Colorado found that with existing technology, agrivoltaics can be applied on 593,410 acres. This equals roughly 6 million lbs of food and 200,000 MW of energy (equivalent to 19,230 homes annual electricity usage). Our findings were then scaled and applied across the U.S. which has revealed a potential impact of 4.3 million Acres for agrivoltaic development. Our team is transitioning to conducting market research on the financial model at which agrivoltaics can be applied. While we are still finalizing our economic and commercialization modeling, our preliminary results show a minimum added benefit of $1,000 per acre when farmers transition to this the agrivoltaic model.The research and technologies developed from this project can be applied in numerous different ways including by not limited to, greenhouses, livestock, aquaculture, and perhaps even horticulture in space. The Total Addressable Market of agrivoltaics can range from $35 billion to $150 billion. Objectives Met: To develop a better understanding of how numerous crop types respond to growing conditions under various types of solar technologies. Major activities completed: Installed 9 plots of agrivoltaic solutions. Data collected: Air Temperature / Soil Moisture / Radiospectrometer Readings / PAR Levels / Yield of dry weight and market weight of Lettuce, Kale, Tomato, Peppers Summary statistics and discussion of results: See Later Entries Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: See Later Entries Research various new solar technology's productivity with specialty crops growing beneath. Major activities completed / experiments conducted: We used online solar output data resources coupled with our data from our arrays and plant harvest data to document crop growth and solar production. We are currently working with CSU and Xcel Energy, the utility provider to hook up the panels. The panels are projected to start producing realtime energy in April 2020. Data collected: Solar Panel Temperature / NREL PVWatts Estimator Summary statistics and discussion of results: 18,500 kWh/yr Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: The solar is projected to produce energy as predicted by government models. Accurately document the growing conditions under a solar array of new technology. Major activities completed: Ambient Temperature / soil moisture / PAR / soil temperature. Data collected: Spreadsheets and graphs from the data loggers. Summary statistics and discussion of results: Control = 1600 PAR CdTe=650PAR Bifacial = 400 PAR Opaque = 380 PAR Opaque = Highest Soil Moisture Control = Lowest Soil Moisture Opaque = Lowest Temperature Control = Highest Temperature Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: The key outcomes and realizations were the unique crop growth micro-environments created by the various arrays. This micro-environment could provide ideal growing conditions for species not normally suited for certain climates. Design and construct 9 different photovoltaic array structures with the same crops under all of them. Major activities completed / experiments conducted: Constructed 9 separate photovoltaic arrays at CSU's ARDEC South Location. Data collected: N/a Summary statistics and discussion of results: N/a Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: N/a Document the differences between plants growing under the panels against plants that are growing out in the open sunlight Major activities completed / experiments conducted: Amended soil, planted, tended the plots, and harvested the crops. Data collected: Marketable fresh and dry weights, marketable and unmarketable fruit counts and weights. Graphs of results. Summary statistics and discussion of results: CdTe Semi-Transparent = more yield than control Bifacial = less yield than control Opaque = lowest yield Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: We speculate that the intense sun in Colorado may stress some plants out later in the season and later in the day. The shade could provide less heat stress and increased soil moisture when the crops need it the most. Run an economic and feasibility study at the small to mid-sized farm scale. Major activities completed / experiments conducted: We researched various business models and methods of deploying agrivoltaics. We used industry knowledge, direct farmer surveys, CSU Cooperative Extension, Small Business Development Center advisors. We selected 3 possible business models and evaluated their potential financial return. We researched the potential market size. Data collected: Farmer feedback and survey results. Estimated Costs and Revenue Summary statistics and discussion of results: We found that some agrivoltaic financial models are more attractive than others. Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized: We know how to deploy agrivoltaics to create an attractive return on an investment. The grower surveys = interest at small & mid-sized farm scale Geospatial Analysis = Large Market Opportunity Objective Shortcomings: -Accurately document the water and nutrient consumption of specialty crops under each solar array. We were able to document the soil moisture levels, but it was difficult to monitor the water consumption due to regular watering across all plots. We were unable to obtain proper monitors for nutrient consumption of specialty crops, but we did study the radiospectrometry to identify if there was a difference in light quality underneath the panels. There is no difference in light quality. - Construct a preliminary tunnel structurewith photovoltaic panels mounted to it. We are in discussions with prospective partners right now for pilot projects and have letters of intent. - Accurately measure all of the economic variables: energy used, energy produced, nutrients used, water used, cost of array. Our team was able to track the cost of the solar array, which is valuable for estimating economics. We do have tools to estimate some of these factors. There was no energy used on site. Water usage was too difficult to monitor because the research farm drip lines come from the same well. We have been able to successfully create financial models based on what we currently know.

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: https://agsci.source.colostate.edu/researchers-testing-whether-specialty-crops-solar-panels-can-thrive-together/