HARVESTING THE SUN
Many Conn. farmers looking to add solar arrays to working fields
In a survey of more than 175 Connecticut farmers, the American Farmland Trust found that a solid majority see solar arrays in their fields as an attractive option — provided the panels are elevated sufficiently or positioned otherwise to allow for continued use of arable land to grow crops or “solar grazing” below by livestock.
That could go against the grain for some land trusts and preservation groups in Connecticut towns, however, for any leery of marring vistas that make their countryside attractive to residents and visitors. But AFT counters that solar represents a potential source of electricity savings and revenue that can boost the financial viability of farms, lessening the odds of bankruptcies and subsequent development of the open space for housing.
The AFT survey drew responses from farmers in all eight Connecticut counties, including a dozen in Fairfield County, which has the smallest amount of farm acreage in the state. Less than a third of survey respondents had farm sales in excess of $100,000.
A number of Connecticut farms have already installed photovoltaic systems, including the Northford tourist destination Bishop's Orchards, which has used both unused hillside and building roofs for panels. And there are instances of abandoned farmland now accommodating solar farms.
“Context matters a great deal to farmers: the size and location of the solar array, the ability to leverage it for dual-purposes, and the scope of economic benefit were identified as the key factors influencing support for solar on farmland,” the authors stated in the AFT report produced in conjunction with Michiganbased Agrisolar Consulting. “Farmers and farmland owners in (Connecticut) expressed interest in farm-compatible solar that maintains two key priorities: the continued use of land for agriculture and support for farm viability.”
Farmers nationally are showing increasing willingness to consider solar in working fields under a concept known as agrivoltaics, allowing for dual use of the land where panels are positioned. That includes raising the panels sufficiently high to allow for rows of vegetables below, creating periods of shade as the sun traverses the sky that can be a benefit.
Oregon State University researchers are conducting a study to see if solar panels in fields can promote crop production with less water demand. With plants having limits to the amount of sunlight needed to help them grow, any exposure past that point only increases water demand for plants. The greenery below also helps cool panels, according to OSU, improving the productivity of the panels above.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture cites research suggesting brassica plants — broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower included in the group — benefit particularly well co-existing with solar panels.
Nearly two years ago, New Jersey created a $2 million pilot to develop such dual-use solar capacity in working fields, under the stewardship of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University. The University of Massachusetts is also conducting trials, and just north of Stafford, a Monson, Mass. dairy farm is experimenting with solar panels 10 feet above a plot for hay.
On a grander scale, a Colorado operation called Jack's Solar Garden is thought to be the largest agrivoltaic experiment in the United States, growing fruits, vegetables, pollinating flowers and hay among some 3,200 solar panels.
Among other recommendations, AFT says the University of Connecticut should create similar pilot programs through its UConn Extension arm.
Spotting a reverse opportunity, goat and sheep farmers are offering up flocks to solar farm operators to chew away weeds growing on the properties, as a cheaper alternative then hiring crews to patrol the properties regularly with mowers and trimmers. Ellington's Hillview Farm is among the Northeast farms advertising its sheep through an online market exchange maintained by the American Solar Grazing Association.