Solar Farm 2.0 SCAPES Crops Research
This is one of the research projects called ‘Agrivoltaic’ in which I’m currently involved.
Ideally, ground-level solar panels help keep the soil moist, while also keeping the crops cool during the day and warm at night. In turn, the plants assist the panels in transferring water from the soil into the atmosphere. The plants keep the panels cool—and efficient—during the day, resulting in more energy production.
However, crops underneath solar panels could have a confounding effect due to shading. Shading can lead to reduced photosynthetic activity, resulting in fewer assimilates both pre- and post-anthesis.
My main interest lies in understanding how shading affects the main yield components (grain number and weight) and determining the best strategy for managing crop growth under solar panels.