Source: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS submitted to
DESIGNING AGRIVOLTAICS FOR SUSTAINABLY INTENSIFYING FOOD AND ENERGY PRODUCTION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1027532
Grant No.
2021-68012-35898
Project No.
ILLU-470-620
Proposal No.
2021-05691
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
A9201
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2021
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2025
Grant Year
2021
Project Director
Khanna, M.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
Sponsored Programs Administrat
Non Technical Summary
Declining cost of photovoltaic technology and rising market and policy incentives for solar energy are making it increasingly profitable to convert cropland to solar farms, leading to a potential conflict with food crops. Agrivoltaics (AVs), the co-located production of solar energy and crops, is an emerging technology that can reduce this competition for land, provide climate-smart solutions to improve land productivity (combined crop and electricity yield), crop water-use efficiency, profitability and economic resilience of agriculture. Deployment of AVs in Asia and Europe is growing and there is increasing interest among farmers in the U.S. However, research on AVs has been limited to isolated experimental studies on a few crops in a few regions. We propose the project for Sustainably Colocating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems (SCAPES) to provide the interdisciplinary scientific knowledge, extension and education for designing sustainable AV technologies for diverse crop species (row crops, forage, and specialty crops) across three biophysically diverse regions in the US: Illinois, Colorado and Arizona. SCAPES will couple state-of-the-art field experiments with farm-scale economic analysis, farmer survey and a systems modelling approach to extrapolate biophysical and economic outcomes across the US to address key knowledge gaps and analyze system-wide effects on markets and climate systems. A diverse team of extension specialists and educators will enable interactive engagement with stakeholders to generate and transfer usable knowledge for decision support, inform research design and educate and inspire future leaders about AVs as a timely and value-added innovative solution to sustainable food and energy production.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
35%
Applied
35%
Developmental
30%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2052410106030%
6016030301030%
4025399202040%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 205 - Plant Management Systems; 402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
5399 - Structures, facilities, and equipment, general/other; 2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops; 6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of this project for Sustainably Colocating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems (SCAPES) is to provide the interdisciplinary scientific knowledge, extension and education for designing sustainable AV technologies that can increase the economic well-being and resilience of US farmers by maintaining/enhancing food production while increasing renewable energy generation across different biophysical environments in the US. SCAPES aligns with the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Program Area Priorities and themes in the USDA Science Blueprint to promote sustainable agricultural intensification, adaptation to a changing climate, and value-added innovation. It will thereby foster economic development and prosperity in rural American communities and contribute to long-term sustainability of agriculture and renewable energy systems. We will achieve the goal of SCAPES through three key objectives:1. Engage stakeholder groups - including farmers, landowners, and solar developers and their associations - in configuring ways in which solar energy can be integrated with food crop production, and tailoring the research design in the three regions to generate and transfer holistic systems knowledge to stakeholders for decision support.2. Design AV systems optimized for location-specific crop productivity, resource needs, and electricity generation under a range of biophysical conditions, establish locally optimized AV Research and Demonstration Sites at three locations (Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona), and extrapolate biophysical and economic outcomes across the US to address key knowledge gaps about the system-wide effects of SCAPES on markets and climate.3. Establish high-impact experiential educational programs integrated with research and extension to teach and foster interest in future agricultural technologies among K-12 children, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the general public, to advance understanding of the potential benefit of AVs for the country and for US farmers.
Project Methods
We will begin by leveraging existing PV facilites in each region and plant C3 and C4 crop species between panels to learn how they respond to various levels, duration, and timing of shade. We will use data from these experiments to parameterize a coupled crop-PV simulation model that will inform the design of our three Research and Demonstration Sites and provide data to parameterize and validate an integrated national scale economic-ecosystem modeling approach to simulate the spatially varying the Land Equivalent ratio (LER) and Land Evapotranspiration Ratio (LETR) and conduct techno-economic analysis and systems analysis across the US. We will leverage three existing solar farms to assess microclimatic and plant responses to the presence of solar panels: Solar Farm 2.0 at UI, Jack's Solar Garden at CSU and the Agrivoltaics Learning Lab at UA. These existing facilities equipped with PV arrays provide the opportunity to characterize the effects of shade imposed by the presence of solar panels. We will develop a coupled PV model and crop modeling framework that will be parameterized and validated with data from existing solar farms. This framework will represent light transmission and water- and thermal-dynamics in PV systems across regions and integrate it with crop growth models to co-optimize PV-crop design and placement. The effect of shading and changes in direct and diffuse light on crop yields will be modeled using Community Land Model version 5.0 (CLM5.0) which is the land component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM2.0).Three Research and Demonstration sites will be established at the Energy Farm at UI, the Agricultural Research Development andEducation Center at CSU and the Campus Agricultural Center at UA. These sites will be designed to provide the full range of environmental and crop growth conditions in each of the three geographic regions with a specific focus on crop species with the attributes that our modelling identifies as most favorable for AV.We will simulate the effects of optimized AV systems on LER and LETR using crop yields and electricity output from CLM 5.0. Temporal and spatial variability in LER and LETR will be analyzed by using twentyyears of randomized historical climate and future climate scenarios. The historical climate scenario will use the North American Land Data Assimilation System climate data from 2000-2020 with a spatial resolution of 0.1 degree. Future climate scenarios will use climate data from 2031-2050 from selected IPCC's Representative Concentration Pathways and NASA Earth Exchange Downscaled Climate Projections and quantify the uncertainty in future projections. LER and LETR will be estimated at a fourkm scale for the US, using data from the Cropland Data Layer on land types and availability. These analyses will be combined with NREL System Advisor Model to determine the levelized cost of electricity with PV and AV technologies and with estimates of the spatially varying costs of producing a broad range of crops, to estimate the net present value of returns to land and DLR. The DLR with AV systems will be compared with that under crop only or solar farming only.We will analyze the potential implications of aggregate adoption of AVs on commodity and electricity markets by extending the national scale economic model BEPAM (Biofuel and Environmental Policy Analysis Model). BEPAM is a multi-period, spatially explicit, multi-market, systems model of the agricultural, transportation, and electricity sectors in the US.Lastly, we will conduct land-atmosphere coupled simulations by using the Community Earth System Model version 2.0 (CESM2.0), the hosting model for CLM5.0, to investigate the regional climate impact of adopting AVs at large scales. The economically optimal land allocation outputs will be used to run the coupled simulations with CESM with a horizontal resolution of onedegree using climatic conditions from different RCPs (2006-2100). In these land-atmosphere coupled simulations, AV-induced changes in surface radiation condition and carbon-water-momentum fluxes, will feedback into the atmospheric model in CESM and have a direct impact on local and regional climate trajectories in the future.

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, the target audience for the SCAPES project included farmers and farmer representatives, solar energy developers, educational professionals, our external advisory board members, postdocs, graduate students and the wider public.The SCAPES project team successfully organized the second annual retreat meeting on September 13-15, 2023, in Denver, Colorado, which more than 50 participants attended. The project currently supports over 75 academic researchers, postdocs and graduate students. We have also established relationships with over 100 business leaders, nonprofit professionals, solar energy developers and farmers across three states.The SCAPES Extension group (IL and CO) hosted two focus groups, one with industry representatives and one with farmers. Awareness, opportunities, and barriers were discussed with each group. A second key-informant session was held with solar industry developers. In Illinois, Bowman presented information on Agrivoltaics to farm audiences at three regional winter workshops. A Virtual Open House was held in August featuring one of our lead researchers, Dr. Nenad Miljkovic (photovoltaic lead). Dr. Miljkovic provided a summary and update on his research and answered various participant questions. During the spring and summer of 2023, the SCAPES Team hosted several groups of visitors to the Agrivoltaics research sites at the University of Illinois. Both the Solar Farm 2.0 and Energy Farm sites were utilized for these events. These included two international groups, two high school STEM camps, and the Energy Farm Open House. The University of Arizona Extension team hosted a farmer roundtable discussion. They also focused on making connections with agricultural community leaders, such as the Arizona Farm Bureau. We also had several engagements and events with policymakers and other target audiences. The SCAPES project team led by Prof Barron-Gafford participated in a joint USDA-DOE Agrivoltaics Workshop in March 2023 to discuss opportunities for collaboration. Changes/Problems:Prices of solar panels have increased significantly over the past years since the project was approved, likely due to increased tariffs on imported components from China and supply chain disruptions.We are mitigating this constraint by engaging with local Arizona, Colorado and Illinois solar companiesto build our project sites at a reasonable cost. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The SCAPES project team have provided several opportunities to share information with stakeholders and the wider public.The SCAPES Extension group (IL and CO) hosted two focus groups, one with industry representatives and one with farmers. Awareness, opportunities, and barriers were discussed with each group. A second key-informant session was held with solar industry developers. In Illinois, Bowman presented information on Agrivoltaics to farm audiences at three regional winter workshops. This presentation was available online through the University of Illinois Extension online learning portal. A Virtual Open House was held in August featuring one of our lead researchers, Dr. Nenad Miljkovic (photovoltaic lead). Dr. Miljkovic provided a summary and update on his research and answered various participant questions. This meeting format will be continued in the fall with a different focus each time. The Colorado State Extension team released an Agrivoltaics fact sheet that is now available online. The University of Arizona Extension team hosted a farmer roundtable discussion.The SCAPES project team led by Prof Barron-Gafford participated in a joint USDA-DOE Agrivoltaics Workshop in March 2023 to share reseach updates/results and discuss opportunities for collaboration. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The SCAPES project team conducted many public engagement events across the project geography.The SCAPES Extension group (IL and CO) hosted two focus groups, one with industry representatives and one with farmers. Awareness, opportunities, and barriers were discussed with each group. A second key-informant session was held with solar industry developers. In Illinois, Bowman presented information on Agrivoltaics to farm audiences at three regional winter workshops. This presentation was available online through the University of Illinois Extension online learning portal. A Virtual Open House was held in August featuring one of our lead researchers, Dr. Nenad Miljkovic (photovoltaic lead). Dr. Miljkovic provided a summary and update on his research and answered various participant questions. This meeting format will be continued in the fall with a different focus each time. During the spring and summer of 2023, the SCAPES Team hosted several groups of visitors to the Agrivoltaics research sites at the University of Illinois. Both the Solar Farm 2.0 and Energy Farm sites were utilized for these events. These included two international groups, two high school STEM camps, and the Energy Farm Open House. The Colorado State Extension team released an Agrivoltaics fact sheet that is now available online. The University of Arizona Extension team hosted a farmer roundtable discussion. They also focused on making connections with agricultural community leaders, such as the Arizona Farm Bureau.We also had several engagements and events with policymakers and other target audiences. The SCAPES project team led by Prof Barron-Gafford participated in a joint USDA-DOE Agrivoltaics Workshop in March 2023 to discuss opportunities for collaboration. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year 3 plans Thrust 1: Crop Physiology The University of Arizona team plans to utilize existing agrivoltaics arrays to quantify crop physiology in Arizona and Colorado. In Arizona, this will span Spring, Summer, and Fall/Winter growing seasons; in Colorado, this will occur in the single warm season. We plan to integrate early findings into evolving regional models led by NREL and the University of Arizona. We also plan to revise and resubmit two publications in revision, as necessary. Finally, we plan to generate publication based on 1st year of results from the Jack's Solar Garden site. The team at CSU intends to establish a PV research infrastructure and begin collecting data. Thrust 2: Solar Panel Optimization and Modeling Since we have built the crop and economic models based on certain assumptions and simplifications, the next step will focus on validating the simplified crop and economic models. We plan to compare the results from published models and those from our current (SCAPES Solar Crop Economic) model. We also plan to demonstrate the reliability of the current crop model by conducting a comparative study with the complex crop model developed by the Agro-team. After the validation, we plan to implement the Multi-Objective Optimization Design based on standard AV farms with a size >40 acres, write and publish in journal papers. Thrust 3: Modeling SCAPES Impacts at Landscape Scale The biophysical modeling team plans to complete sensitivity analysis and model validation in the Colorado site and (b) Finish a manuscript on the model development, sensitivity analysis and validation work. The economics team at UIUC plans to continue to analyze the spatially varying profitability of AV systems compared to crops only or solar only using data on a 4km x 4 km grid across the contiguous US. This will include analyzing the spatially varying riskiness and returns with AV compared to solar or crops only. We plan to continue with the work to provide an understanding of the economic incentives for the adoption of AV by solar energy developers. Auburn researchers will examine the economic incentives for the adoption of AV by farmers, considering their risk, time, and loss preferences. Also, the economics team, led by Auburn, will examine the contract designs between solar developers and farmers and the impacts of the designs on AV adoptions by developers and farmers.Finally, we plan to conduct surveys of solar developers and farmers to examine the technology and economic and behavioral factors that will influence the adoption of agrivoltaics. We plan to analyze the survey data and write a draft manuscript. Thrust 4: Extension Additional stakeholder focus group sessions are scheduled for September 2023, one targeted at solar developers and the other at farmers. We plan to conduct Open House/Field Day at research sites and start Virtual Office Hours where various team members can interact with stakeholders, tentatively scheduled for bi-monthly. The extension team at UIC plans to collaborate and coordinate with thrust colleagues in Arizona, Colorado, and Illinois. The team is helping host additional focus group meetings with the solar industry in Summer 2023, corresponding with Extension thrust colleagues and providing meeting facilitation as needed. They plan to give more input on the design of the solar industry survey and help distribute it to key stakeholders. We plan to schedule a guest lecture for research team members to share preliminary economic and shade analysis modeling with graduate students in the University of Illinois Chicago Masters of Energy Engineering program for Fall 2023. We also plan to host guest lectures for research team members to share project results and test outreach/education tools and outcomes with high school students in the STEM Scholars program during Summer 2023. Thrust 5: Education We have one more playtesting date set at SLSC with new features of the app. Then, we will move into the final major phase of software development with new features, including more crops, more sites - CO and IL, more challenges - e.g., weather, insects, and more features (- e.g., solar panel upgrades, customization options, long play format). Based on our classroom testing, we will complete the teacher's guide in anticipation of continued year 3 testing and dissemination through partners, including IL Agriculture in the Classroom, to advertise the tools/resources to K-12 teachers across IL.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Thrust 1: Crop Physiology The goal of the crop physiology team (at Colorado State University) for the second year was to establish PV research infrastructure in a Colorado grassland and assess ecosystem/plant responses. We have measured soil water, light, and productivity patterns in an established PV site (Jack's Solar Garden" for three growing seasons. The results have been remarkably consistent about resources and plant productivity. The sites with the greatest soil moisture are not the most productive each year. Instead, productivity is maximized when afternoon shade is present. A modelling study has provided more detail regarding the possible water savings (ca. 10-15%) with PV arrays in grasslands. The team has been working to build a new research PV facility while continuing research at Jack's Solar Garden. In addition, laboratory studies focused on light quantity/timing and plant responses have been completed. Three publications/manuscripts are now accepted or published funded by the SCAPES project, and results have been disseminated at various conferences. The University of Arizona (UA) team is investigating crop physiology, yield, and phenological responses to the novel microclimate and the dynamic light/shade environment created by agrivoltaic conditions in two pre-existing sites: Biosphere 2 in Southern Arizona and Jack's Solar Garden in Colorado. The two sites are located within hot and cold semi-arid climates, respectively.We collected a 2nd year of relevant field data quantifying environmental and crop plant responses within an existing AV system in Arizona and Colorado. We planted five plant functional types (tubers, alliums, flowering shrubs, legumes, and root vegetables) to accelerate our understanding of the impacts of agrivoltaics on food production across diverse crop species. All crops were grown under full-sun (control) and agrivoltaic settings. Each treatment was replicated across crops receiving full irrigation based on typical crop needs and a 50% reduction in that irrigation rate, simulating proposed agricultural water restrictions. Throughout the growing season, we recorded detailed phenology data, noting any differences among crops grown across these treatments in terms of germination data, rates of survival, timing and duration of flowering and fruiting, and timing of senescence. Five conference presentations by PI and students were delivered. We also completed two peer-reviewed manuscripts. The Crop Physiology Team at the University of Illinois has constructed two Agrivoltaic Research Sites with the goal to Optimize AV design to maximize the potential advantages of integrating PV panels and agriculture. Thrust 2: Solar Panel Optimization The objective of the solar PV team at UUIC is to develop and provide an open-source AV design model/software that enables multi-objective optimization of AV designs, thus maximizing the potential advances of integrating PV technology and agriculture. We have completed the development of the preliminary AV systematic model, including solar, crop (soybean and wheat) and economic models, realized the acceleration AV systematic model, and proposed the conceptual design of the smart water management (drainage) system. We have also completed a predictive (Multi-Objective) optimization open-source (Python) model that provides design guidelines for building an optimized AV system with solar, potential crop yield, economic profit and structural considerations. To ensure the validity and reliability of our models, we have completed the solar irradiance test setup on Solar Farm 2.0. We are currently collecting and analyzing test data to validate our solar model. Furthermore, we are conducting a comparative study with the Agro-team's complex crop model to demonstrate the accuracy and credibility of our crop model. Thrust 3: Modeling SCAPES Impacts at Landscape Scale The biophysical modeling group at UIUC assessed the mechanismsof the potential impacts of agrivoltaics on the energy-water-crop nexus using a process-based ecosystem model and interpreting the results in the context of field observations. In CLM5, we added new modules (or codes) about solar radiation schemes for full-shade cases and two kinds of partial-shade cases. We also refined the sunlit/shade leaf schemes and longwave schemes. In addition, we considered the energy balance of solar panels. The economics team led by UIUC researchers have successfully developed a novel framework for estimating the levelized cost of electricity production (LCOE) and profitability of alternative AV design configurations using several scenarios at a representative farm in Illinois. The scenarios differ by several choices affecting profitability, including design configurations such as the height of panels, panel row spacing, field dimensions, area under PV and crops, equipment compatibility and installation costs. The preliminary results show that most AV scenarios are not profitable under current prices and costs in the solar industry. However, profitability could be achieved when capital costs are smaller and with increasing policy support. We are further investigating profitability conditions and developing various sensitivity analyses, break-even analyses and what-if scenarios. We are working with the modelling and PV team (Led by Dr Kaiyu Guan) to understand the impact of shading on soybean yields in AV settings. Thrust 4: Extension The SCAPES Extension group (IL and CO) hosted two focus groups, one with industry representatives and one with farmers. Awareness, opportunities, and barriers were discussed with each group. A second key-informant session was held with solar industry developers. In Illinois, Bowman presented information on Agrivoltaics to farm audiences at three regional winter workshops. This presentation was available online through the University of Illinois Extension online learning portal. A Virtual Open House was held in August featuring one of our lead researchers, Dr. Nenad Miljkovic (photovoltaic lead). Dr. Miljkovic provided a summary and update on his research and answered various participant questions. This meeting format will be continued in the fall with a different focus each time. Thrust 5: Education The education team continued iterations on the AV app, including testing with public audiences, expanded functionality, and delivery on Android and IOS platforms.We deployed the AV App and integrated it with undergraduate and graduate instruction (in Prof. Eric Green's course, Prof. Lindgren's EPOL course on sustainability, and Prof. Lane's course on educational games research). We developed version 1 of an instructor guide identifying learning objectives, links to NGSS standards, gameplay guidance, discussion support, and more. We conducted three playtest sessions in the St. Louis Science Center (twice) and the Children's Museum in Indianapolis (once). We collected substantial user feedback from the museums and classrooms through feedback, interviews, surveys, and log data. Data from roughly 250 people of all age groups (4 to 70) revealed that players were learning about basic AV concepts and positively reacted to game content and game mechanics. The game was found to foster scientific conversations with researchers and parents. We have had continued contact with Dr. Barron-Gafford and Dr. Bernacchi to refine the underlying models and capture emerging scientific findings in the game. This is emerging as one of the most exciting aspects of the project (directly translating research findings into gameplay in an accessible and fun format). We provided information and a gameplay video to Dr. Barron-Gafford, who presented it at a USDA-DOE meeting (and received positive feedback). David Hopping and Evan Shipley demonstrated the game at the Game Studies Design Showcase on April 28 and additional SCAPES events throughout the year.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Lepley, K. How to Survive a Hotter Drier Future? Think Like a Desert. TedX Summit; Tucson, Arizona. February, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sturchio et al. Resource heterogeneity induced by ground-mounted photovoltaics uniquely alters plant and ecosystem processes in a semi-arid grassland. AGU 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sturchio, M. and Knapp, A. Opportunities to enhance ecosystem services within photovoltaic solar arrays. AGU 2023.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gomez-Casanovas, Nuria, Paul Mwebaze, Madhu Khanna, Bruce Branham, Alson Time, Evan H. DeLucia, Carl J. Bernacchi, et al. 2023. Knowns, Uncertainties, and Challenges in Agrivoltaics to Sustainably Intensify Energy and Food Production. Cell Reports Physical Science, 101518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101518.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: 2. Pascaris, A. S., Gerlak, A. K., & Barron-Gafford, G. A. (2023). From niche-innovation to mainstream markets: Drivers and challenges of industry adoption of agrivoltaics in the U.S. Energy Policy, 181, 113694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113694
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: 3. Kannenberg, S. A., Sturchio, M. A., Venturas, M. D., & Knapp, A. K. (2023). Grassland carbon-water cycling is minimally impacted by a photovoltaic array. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 238. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00904-4
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sturchio, M. A., & Knapp, A. K. (2023). Ecovoltaic principles for a more sustainable, ecologically informed solar energy future. Nature Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02174-x
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sturchio MA, Macknick, J. E., Barron?Gafford, G. A., Chen, A., Alderfer, C., Condon, K., ... & Knapp, A.K. (2022). Grassland productivity responds unexpectedly to dynamic light and soil water environments induced by photovoltaic arrays. Ecosphere, 13(12), e4334.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Warmann, E., Jenerette, G. D. & Barron-Gafford, G. A. Analysis of the interplay between agrivoltaic system design and crop selection on energy production, crop productivity and water consumption. Environmental Research Letters (In revision).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Macknick, J. et al. The 5 Cs of Agrivoltaic Success Factors in the United States: Lessons From the InSPIRE Research Study. (NREL/TP-6A20-83566. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/83566.pdf., 2022).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Gomez-Casanovas N, Mwebaze P, Khanna M, Branham B, Time A, Bernacchi C, Knapp A, Miljovic N, Hoque MJ, Du X, Blanc-Betes E, Barron-Gafford GA, Peng B, Guan K, Macknick J, Miao R, DeLucia EH. The potential for Agrivoltaics to sustainably intensify food and energy production. AGU 2022 Conference
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Barron-Gafford, GA. PV Tracking Yields Dynamic Patterns of Crop Productivity and Water Use Across Single Days and Over Growing Seasons. International Agrivoltaics Conference; Daegu, South Korea. April, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Lepley, K. An Agrivoltaic Atlas for Public Education; International Agrivoltaics Conference; Daegu, South Korea. April, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Rouini, N. The Potential for Shade Acclimation Among Crops Grown in a Dryland Agrivoltaic Environment. International Agrivoltaics Conference; Daegu, South Korea. April, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Salazar, A. Crop Plant Phenology in Dryland Agrivoltaic Systems. International Agrivoltaics Conference; Daegu, South Korea. April, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Ortega, C. Schoolyard Agrivoltaics as a Model for Experiential Learning and Citizen Science. International Agrivoltaics Conference; Daegu, South Korea. April, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Barron-Gafford, GA and Lepley, K. Agrivoltaics 101: Elemental Aspects of Dual-Use Solar. Solar Farm Summit; Chicago, Illinois. March, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Barron-Gafford, GA and Lepley, K. Agrivoltaics 201: Specialty Crops & Solar Applications. Solar Farm Summit; Chicago, Illinois. March, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Lepley, K. How to Survive a Hotter Drier Future? Think Like a Desert. WonderHouse. SXSW; Austin, Texas. February, 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sturchio et al. Physiological responses and patterns of grassland productivity within a photovoltaic array. ESA 2023.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sturchio, M. Grassland Ecology and Physiology at Jacks Solar Garden. JSG Webinar, December 2022.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Sturchio, M. Ecovoltaics: A sustainable approach to solar development. JSG Solar Developer Workshop. May 2023.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Pinkowitz, T., Sturchio, M., Knapp, A., What can DIMS do for you? Design, Fabrication, Implementation. Front Range Student Ecology Symposium 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Brady, K., Sturchio, M., Knapp, A., How low can they go? Exploring how light conditions alter photosynthetic capacity in C3 and C4 native grasses. Front Range Student Ecology Symposium 2022.


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, the target audience for the SCAPES project included farmers and farmer representatives, solar energy developers, educational professionals, our external advisory board members, postdocs,graduate students and the wider public. We formed a Stakeholder Working Group(SWG) to reach out to farmers/landowners and solar energy developers in Illinois, Arizonaand Colorado. There were approximately 70 members on the SWG as of this reporting period. We also created an External Advisory Board (EAB) to actively advise SCAPES research, technology development, educational programs and Extension engagement. We organised several stakeholder engagement events, including the first Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) meeting, which took place on February 17, 2022, and attracted over 50 participants, including solar energy developers, farmers, land owners and other researchers. We successfully organised the project's annual retreat meeting on September 7-9, 2022, in Champaign, which more than 50 participants attended. The Project Director participated in a joint USDA-DOE agrivoltaics workshop in January 2022 to present an overview of the project and discuss opportunities for collaboration. Over 100 participants attended this event. The SCAPES project currently supports over 50 academic researchers, postdocs and graduate students. We have also established working relationships with over 50 business leaders, nonprofit professionals, solar energy developers and farmers across Arizona, Colorado andIllinois. The SCAPES project continues to receive a lot of interest and inquiries from a broad audience, including students, solar developers, farmers, political leaders and the general public. Changes/Problems:Prices of solar panels have increased by 30% over the past year, likely due to increased tariffs on imported components from China. We are having ongoing discussions with solar companies to purchase solar panels and construct the PV/AV sites with the available budgets. We are mitigating this constraint by engaging with Continental Electrical Construction Company and several local solar companies to build our project sites at a reasonable cost. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The SCAPES project team have provided several webinars to share information with stakeholders and the wider public. These meetings have attracted over 150 particiapnts during the first year. We organized the first Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) meeting which was conducted on February 17, 2022 and attracted over 50 participants including solar developers, farmers, land owners and other researchers. Participants discovered information about the SCAPES Project and Goals. An introduction into the basics of agrivoltaics was provided by senior agrivoltaics researchers. Representatives from research, the solar power industry and agriculture each provided their perspectives on agrivoltaics. We organized a joint webinar between the SCAPES project and American Farmland Trust on July 12, 2022, which drew over 70 participants using Zoom. Information from these events was added to the SCAPES website to extend engagement efforts.The SCAPES Extension team also conducted many other training events across the project geography. These include the 2022 Illinois Extension Crop Management Conferences, twoLive Presentations (Mt. Vernon and DeKalb), CropFlix On-line Training module and the 2022 Summer Field Days (Dudley Smith Field Day, Ewing Demonstration Center, Highland Community College Demonstration Plot Day). Professor Madhu Khanna and Professor Greg Barron-Gaffordpresented an overview ofthe SCAPES project at thejoint USDA-DOE Agrivoltaics workshop January 10, 2022. Paul Mwebaze presented an overview of the SCAPES project at the EUCI Online Course on Agrivoltaics and Dual Use Solar, March 24, 2022. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The SCAPES projectteam conducted many public engagement events across the project geography. These include the 2022 Illinois Extension Crop Management Conferences, twLive Presentations (Mt. Vernon and DeKalb), CropFlix On-line Training module and the 2022 Summer Field Days (Dudley Smith Field Day, Ewing Demonstration Center, Highland Community College Demonstration Plot Day). The team at the University of Arizona have designed and executed a solar industry study to assess motivations, opportunities, and challenges. Data collection began in March 2022 using a purposive sampling technique (based on existing networks and logical categories defined prior to data collection). A total of eightsolar companies, and fourteenindividual participants were engaged. The preliminary results were presented at "AgriVoltaics 2022 Conference & Exhibition" in Piacenza, Italy (June 15-17). Data collection for the agricultural study began in April 2022 with a visit to threeNRCD agricultural meeting sites in Pinal County to introduce the project and solicit possible farmer interviewees. The team also promoted the SCAPES project during the AgriSolar Clearinghouse's "Follow the Sun Tour" in Tucson, Arizonaon 4/5/22. The key findings from the stakeholder workshop indicate a strong interest in ecosystem services (pollinators) from the solar perspective. From the farmer perspective, there is uncertainty about which crops are most suitable for AV. Scale considerations are also important from a solar developer's perspective. The economics team is conducting detailed analysis to demonstrate profitability of AV for farmers and landowners.Paul Mwebaze presented the preliminary economics results at the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2022 Annual Conference, on March 23, 2022. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year TwoPlans Thrust 1: Crop Physiology The University of Arizona team plans to utilize existing agrivoltaics arrays to quantify crop physiology in Arizona and Colorado. In Arizona, this will span Spring, Summer, and Fall/Winter growing seasons; in Colorado this will occur in the winter with alliums (onions and shallots) and in single warm growing season with a variety of specialty crops. We will work with Colorado and Illinois teams to design the SCAPES Experimental AV Arrays (EAVAs). EAVAs will be as similar as possible but also allow all teams to do the best site-based science, while also meeting the data needs of the project and allowing for cross-site integration.They also plan to integrate early findings into evolving regional models led by NREL and the University of Arizona.The team at CSU plans to establish PV research infrastructure and continue research at Jacks Solar Garden. Thrust 2: Solar Panel Optimization and Modeling Regarding Year Two, firstly, we plan to accelerate the simulation process based on GPU, which can make sense when implementing the Multi-Objective Optimization Design (MOOD) based on a series of evolutionary algorithms, such as NSGA-II, NSGA-III, SMPSO, OMOPSO, MOEA/D, MOEA/D-DRA, MOEA/D-IEpsilon, GDE3, SPEA2, HYPE, IBEA, etc. Secondly, we plan to add more sophisticated crop growth and economic models into the present AV model (SCAPES_Solar_Beta), and further investigate the correlation between the Multi-Objective Optimization Design (MOOD) results based on daily/monthly/annual results. Finally, we plan to do the scalability research in terms of the AV farm size. We are going to explore the MOOD correlation between a small-sized AV farm (~ 1000 kW) and a large-sized one (~ Gigawatt). Thrust 3: Modeling SCAPES Impacts at Landscape Scale The economic team led by UIUC researchers will continue to analyze the profitability of AV systems compared to crops only or solar only using data on a 4km x 4 km grid across the contiguous U.S.The UIUC team will also analyze the spatially varying riskiness and returns with AV compared to solar only or crops only.We plan to provide an understanding of the economic incentives for the adoption of AV by solar energy developers and farmers.We have developed plans to conduct two focus groups in December 2022 with solar energy developers and farmers with the full surveys to be administered in 2023. Auburn researchers will examine the economic incentives for the adoption of AV by farmers, considering their risk, time, and loss preferences. To help with this scope of the work, two new students and a postdoc joined the team in 2022 and will be involved in the work at Auburn University. Finally, the economics team, led by Auburn, will examine the contract designs between solar developers and farmers, and the impacts of the designs on AV adoptions by developers and by farmers. Thrust 4: Extension Additional stakeholder focus group sessions are being scheduled for December 2022 one targeted at solar developers and the other at farmers. Additional engagement events will be held for additional education about Agrivoltaics, demonstrating and sharing information about the app, and reporting on initial research results. Thrust 5: Education The education team plans to continue developing the AV Simulation App. We plan to do App testing and iterations to improve usability, expand content, and refine underlying models. Undergraduate and Graduate Instruction on AV Systems are also being planned for Year Twowith the inclusion of app into UIUC College of Education courses. Dissemination and Outreach with K-12 and Public Audiences is also being planned. We are also developing summer camp materials and museum displays, in coordination with the AZ team.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Thrust 1: Crop Physiology The team at Colorado State University (CSU) is investigating the impacts of photovoltaic systems on grassland health and function. Grassland agrivoltaics, or solar grazing, has the potential to reduce land-use tension in dryland ecosystems and can provide ranchers and land owners with increased income and income stability. In summer 2022, we have made extensive measurements regarding how photovoltaic arrays impact microclimate and grass physiology. We have also collected data to quantify how grassland agrivoltaic arrays impact various ecosystem services such as forage quantity/quality, soil carbon, and nutrient availability. Finally, we are using a vegetation model to simulate how grassland agrivoltaic arrays impact carbon/water cycling, and to understand how these systems alter grassland responses to weather extremes such as droughts and heat waves. These results will benefit the public by providing data on how grassland agrivoltaic systems impact the ability of these ecosystems to provide various ecosystem services (including forage production) under a wide range of environmental conditions, in addition to developing a modeling framework that can be used to assess grassland agrivoltaic projects in other ecosystems. The University of Arizona (UA) team is investigating crop physiology, yield, and phenological responses to the novel microclimate and the dynamic light/shade environment created by agrivoltaic conditions in two pre-existing sites: Biosphere 2 in Southern Arizona and Jack's Solar Garden in Colorado. The two sites are located within hot semi-arid and cold semi-arid climate, respectively. Throughout summer 2022, data was collected from a variety of crops exposed to different experimental treatments related to irrigation and shade/light zones. At Biosphere 2, measurements were made on tomato and zucchini squash in summer 2022. Currently the team is studying two growing cycles of lettuce at Biosphere 2: fall 2022 and winter 2023. At Jack's Solar Garden, the UA team led measures of phenology and yield on four varieties of peppers, two varieties of tomatoes, four varieties of kale, four varieties of beans, four varieties of potatoes, and several herbs, including celery and basil. Additionally, the UA team was joined by a graduate student from the team at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) for a week long campaign of extensive ecophysiological measurements were made on tomatoes and basil across 14 treatments combining different timing and levels of irradiance and irrigation settings as well as solar panel heights. Thrust 2: Solar Panel Optimization During this reporting period, the solar PV team have developed an open-source AVs model called SCAPES_Solar_Beta based on the Python programming language. The solar results have been validated using a rigorous comparison between our model and several other PV software design tools such as Energy 3D and PV Education. In addition, a Multi-Objective Optimization Design (MOOD) has been implemented into our model based on different seasons and crop species.We have used the AV model developed to design the experimental AV plots, which we will build and operate at the threefield sites in Illinois, Arizona, and Colorado. We have investigated the effect of design parameters including pitch, pole height, tracking scheme, site, and AV farm size on the potential Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) for crops and PV energy yield. Meanwhile, we have also conducted a MOOD for two objectives: PV energy yield and PAR; based on two design parameters: pitch and pole height. Thrust 3: Modeling SCAPES Impacts at Landscape Scale The biophysical modeling group at UIUC has been developing a new parameterization scheme for the effect of AV on surface energy budget and crop growth in the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5). The team has successfully set up CLM5 experiments over multiple cropland sites with flux tower observations and are now working on the code development and debugging. Once the AV is fully implemented in the CLM5 model, we will test the impacts of AV over those flux tower sites and collect data from other collaborating teams to validate the model. In addition, the economics team led by UIUC researchers has developed an economic framework for evaluating the spatially varying levelized cost of electricity production (LCOE) and profitability for three options facing farmers and landowners: (1) crops only, (2) solar only, and (3) combined crop and solar (agrivoltaics) option. We have implemented an initial proof of concept using data for fourcounties in Illinois (Champaign, DeKalb, Jackson and McDonough). We have developed a working collaboration with researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to create and evaluate elevenpotential scenarios/configurations to examine the spatial profitability of PV/AV. The preliminary results indicate that the LCOE of AV is higher than that of solar PV alone by approximately 33%, which is consistent with the literature and solar industry estimates. Further, we found that the profitability of PV is higher compared to either agriculture alone or AV. Thrust 4: Extension The SCAPES extension team have organized several stakeholder engagement events, including the first Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) meeting which was conducted on February 17, 2022 and attracted over 50 participants including solar developers, farmers, land owners and other researchers. Participants discovered information about the SCAPES Project and Goals. An introduction into the basics of agrivoltaics was provided. Representatives from research, the solar power industry and agriculture each provided their perspectives on agrivoltaics. Participants were assigned to breakout groups and asked for feedback on a series of questions to inform the research on areas such as existing solar systems, crops to consider, opportunities, obstacles, and research needs. Also, a joint webinar between the SCAPES project and American Farmland Trust was held on July 12, 2022, which drew over 70 participants using Zoom. Information from these events was added to the SCAPES website to extend engagement efforts in an asynchronous fashion. Thrust 5: Education The education team began development of the proposed agrivoltaics app intended for the public and focused on middle- to high-school level understanding of science. Two team members (Chad Lane and Carl Bernacchi) traveled to Green Bay, WI for the app design kickoff meeting with Balance Studios, contracted to develop the app. In the two-day meeting, the teams discussed the educational research plan, software development plan, evaluation plans, and identified key requirements, design features, and content needed for the app development. Initial design work has been completed, including settings (Arizona, Colorado, and Illinois), available crops in first playable, user interface style and features, simulation requirements, crop growth animations, and art style. Chad Lane and Balance team met with Greg Barron-Gafford and Carl Bernacchi to discuss the AV app simulation and potential first-playable scenarios (which will be set in Arizona in the app). This first playable will enable players to plant crops, place solar panels, and experiment with different configurations. The output will be energy and crop yields and translated into monetary value. The app is on schedule for an October evaluation with museum partners. Samantha Lindgren and Madhu Khanna met with Iris Caldwell, Caroline Hernandez, and Ben Campbell to discuss ways that the education thrust's deliverables may be incorporated into the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)'s current programming. Work has been initiated to develop curricular materials around the app to be used in the STEM Scholars Program and in the high school internship program that Hernandez organizes with a focus on climate justice and literacy.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Mwebaze P, Khanna M., Majeed F, Miao R, McCall J, and Macknick J. 2022. Spatial and temporal variability in the profitability of agrivoltaics in the U.S. The Third Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis: European Conference Paris, November 3-4, 2022.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Pascaris A, Gerlak A, and Barron-Gafford G. 2022. Understanding the dynamic forces driving agrivoltaic innovation in the U.S.: Perspectives from the solar ndustry. Poster presentation at AgriVoltaics 2022 Conference & Exhibition in Piacenza, Italy (June 15-17).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Barron-Gafford G, Murphy P, Salazar A, Barnett-Moreno I, Lepley K, Rouini N, and Macknick J. 2022. Agrivoltaics as a cure for midday depression: Shade from PV provides respite for food crops in drylands. Invited talk presentation at AgriVoltaics 2022 Conference & Exhibition in Piacenza, Italy (June 15-17).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Lepley K, Barron-Gafford G, Salazar A, and Murphy P. 2022. Monitoring agrivoltaic crop performance and phenology with a low-cost camera sSystem. Invited talk presentation at AgriVoltaics 2022 Conference & Exhibition in Piacenza, Italy (June 15-17).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Khanna M, ad Barron-Gafford GA. 2022. Designing agrivoltaics for sSustainably intensifying food and energy production. USDA-DOE Agrivoltaics Workshop, January 10, 2022.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sturchio, M.A., J.E. Macknick, G.A. Barron-Gafford, A. Chen, C. Alderfer, K. Condon, O.L. Hajek, B. Miller, B. Pauletto, J.A. Siggers, I.J. Slette, and A.K. Knapp. 2022. Grassland productivity responds unexpectedly to dynamic light and soil water environments induced by photovoltaic arrays. Ecosphere (Accepted).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Gomez-Casanovas N, Mwebaze P, Khanna M, Branham B, Time A, Bernacchi C, Knapp A, Miljovic N, Hoque MJ, Du X, Blanc-Betes E, Barron-Gafford GA, Peng B, Guan K, Macknick J, Miao R, and DeLucia EH. 2023. Agrivoltaics to sustainably intensify food and energy productionknowns, uncertainties and challenges. In prep. Target journal: Joule.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Gomez-Casanovas N, Mwebaze P, Khanna M, Branham B, Time A, Bernacchi C, Knapp A, Miljovic N, Hoque MJ, Du X, Blanc-Betes E, Barron-Gafford GA, Peng B, Guan K, Macknick J, Miao R, and DeLucia EH. 2022. The potential for Agrivoltaics to sustainably intensify food and energy production. AGU 2022 Conference (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Mwebaze P, Khanna M., Majeed F, Miao R, McCall J, and Macknick J. 2022. A spatially varying levelized cost of electricity and profitability of agrivoltaics in the U.S. The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2022 Annual Conference, March 22, 2022.