New study reveals unexpected benefit of solar farms — here’s what it could mean for farmers
"The study involved seeding the land underneath the solar panels with 66 different species of native plants and flowers.
They found that after five years, populations of native #bees had risen to 20 times their initial levels."
#agrivoltaics
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/habitat-friendly-solar-energy-insect-population-boost/
A study in the UK found very large biodiversity at solar parks with vegetation:
"Overall, they observed 1,397 pollinators across at least 30 species."
"According to the study, solar parks were especially beneficial to pollinators in areas with disconnected landscapes. The authors noted that this could be because areas with well-connected landscapes rich in hedgerows and trees could be more attractive to pollinators because they offer a wider range of resources. "
https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-parks-pollinator-habitats-vegetation-uk.html
There's 107 square km of desertified land in #Binhe region, Ningxia province, China. Baofeng, a "new energy" company, became its manager.
First they planted alfalfa. Then they planted #solar, soon to be 1GW of it, and it's tall solar, 3m off the ground. Underneath that they planted goji berries.
Now, small wild animals like sparrows, hares and pheasants have come back. Land moisture evaporation is down by between 30 and 40%. #Agrivoltaics is a win-win proposition.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/09/03/giant-agrivoltaic-project-in-china/
The Baofeng Group is building a 1 GW solar park which is hosting a goji berry plantation in the Binhe New District on the eastern banks of the Yellow River in the Ningxia Province. Around 640 MW have so far been grid-connected. Huawei is providing the inverters for the project.
"The #solar panels can also assume an almost vertical position when farm equipment needs to past by. Farmers who host the array would not have to invest in specialized equipment to continue farming.
Solar developers have been encountering a wave of opposition to rural solar arrays. However, the #agrivoltaics trend has taken some of the steam out of the argument against using farmland to generate electricity."
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/06/25/the-unstoppable-force-of-agrivoltaics-now-with-tiltable-solar-panels/
#SolarFarms
"The emerging field of #agrivoltaics has come a long way in just a few years. From a focus on pollinator habitats and grazing lands, agrivoltaic stakeholders are expanding their ambitions to raise peaches, grapes, and other crops within arrays of ground-mounted solar panels."
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/07/11/peaches-grapes-the-agrivoltaic-farm-of-the-future/
I love how farmers are trying out this, that, and everything! I'm sure they will find that the best config depends on the ag crop. But the pilots are all promising. I especially like the symbiotic relationship, where the partial shade gives higher crop yields, and the cooling from the plants give higher PV yields. Solarpunk, man.
@CelloMomOnCars Yeah, I also like the example of it working very well with sheep grazing, because the sheep get shade and such.
Sadly that's not really all that applicable here, given that there's so little demand for the local wool 😔
I like wool but also NL has enough of a nitrogen problem without extra sheep, no?
I wonder what happens when you rotate sheep and chickens.
@CelloMomOnCars No, the nitrogen problem is mostly caused by cows, sheep contribute way less.
Plus they are actually quite useful. It's just that it's not the 'right' kind of wool, which means that sheep herds that are mostly kept for their utility (natural grazing, such as maintenance of heather fields), are funded by subsidies.
There would be a market for wool that gets turned into isolation, but it's more expensive than fibreglass, we no longer have the local processing capacity, the ‘market' doesn't pay enough, etc.
Which means that it mostly gets burned, while we import merino from New Zealand 😞
Rotterdamse productontwerpers willen de wolverwerkingsindustrie in Nederland nieuw leven inblazen. Ze zetten het Hollands Wol Collectief op en pleiten voor een eerlijke prijs voor schapenhouders: minimaal 1 euro per kilo wol. Ook LTO is betrokken bij het project.
@CelloMomOnCars This is a pretty cool initiative, in the meantime;
https://www.hollandswolcollectief.nl
Founded and run by women! 🙂
CelloMom On Cars
Sindarina, Edge Case Detective