Charlie Stross2d ago

RE: https://horche.demkontinuum.de/display/2196d4ee-7669-dbc1-1f9e-200464952498

Wow.

In addition to this, apparently farm yields INCREASE if you mix ground-dwelling crops with overhead PV panels, which provide shade/humidity traps for the plants and livestock.

Show threadKathmandu

@cstross

Depends on whether the crops were already getting too much sun, vs. barely enough. The places where solar panels improve yield are places where it's dry and hot. *

Places that are plenty shady and humid already, can lose production due to panels. But if the extra shade doesn't cause your crops to develop fungal diseases, the lost harvest can be balanced out by the electricity as an alternate source of income.

* https://coloradosun.com/2024/10/02/agrivoltaics-denver-botanic-gardens-chatfield-solar-power-vegetables/

A new solar farm is now shading Denver Botanic’s actual farm in one of the state’s biggest “agrivoltaics” experiments

$4.7 million investment from Denver climate change sales tax builds an “agrivoltaic” system at Denver Botanic’s Chatfield.

The Colorado Sun
Apr 12 at 6:36pmWeb
Show threadMidgePhoto2d ago

@Kathmandu @cstross
* eg Gobi Desert

I also wonder how this may vary if the ground goes Nitrogen-deficient, fixed N often being a constraint to growth in last summer's conditions.