Alaska agrivoltaics discussed at the 2024 Solar Farm Summit
Agrivoltaics researchers talk about the ways that solar panels affect crop growth and soil health.
August 20, 2024
The 2024 Solar Farm Summit kicked off in July in Chicago to deliver an engaging program around agrivoltaics, the co-location of agriculture and photovoltaic solar panels. Farmers, ranchers, solar installers, researchers and community members gathered to exchange ideas and outtakes from agrisolar projects around the world.
At the summit, ACEP’s Savannah Crichton represented the University of Alaska’s agrivoltaics project called Agrivoltaics: Unlocking Mid-Market Solar in Rural Northern Climates. The team has been setting up the research site for data collection and conducting outreach to northern and rural stakeholders concerned about food, energy and land.
Crichton moderated the breakout session “Uncovering lessons from agrisolar stakeholders,” opening with an overview of the Alaska agrivoltaics project. Despite the advantages of the midnight sun, Alaska faces energy hardships and food security challenges that especially impact its rural residents. She also presented results from the recent stakeholder survey and interviews on agrivoltaics effort, which reflected benefits such as increasing energy security and stabilizing electricity prices, as well as concerns such as high upfront costs and potential conflicts with agricultural land or crop growth. Outlining Alaska’s unique landscape of food and energy, Crichton underscored the importance of involving rural and northern stakeholders in the research process.
Savannah Crichton introduces Alaska’s agrivoltaics research project.
Research and industry leaders on the panel shared information about their efforts to involve stakeholders. Alexis Pascaris, an agrivoltaic researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, emphasized the importance of advisory groups and individual connections that can build trust and identify concerns early on. Stacie Peterson, who is the energy program director at the National Center for Appropriate Technology and leads AgriSolar Clearinghouse, highlighted the work of AgriSolar in providing a platform for onsite community engagement. AgriSolar hosts a Follow the Sun tour series, inviting people to see, taste and explore agrivoltaic sites. Kathryn Beros, founder of KAP Industry, an agrivoltaic solution provider that prioritizes farmers, water conservation and universal food security, stressed the need to elevate farmer voices in agrivoltaic project development.
The panel discussion highlighted ways to identify, address and incorporate diverse stakeholder needs into the lifecycle of a project.
Pascaris commented on the importance of diverse participation in agrivoltaics research and development.
“It is this type of coordinated constituency-building and meaningful stakeholder engagement that will ensure that the future is bright,” she said.
Audience members listens to the panelists during the breakout session.
Following the summit, the AgriSolar Clearinghouse hosted a Follow the Sun tour at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Attendees donned hats and safety vests and toured the Pollinator Habitat Aligned with Solar Energy and Sustainably Colocating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems research plots.
“I really appreciated getting to see an agrivoltaics system embedded within a community,” Crichton said.
“I’m excited to get folks out to Alaska’s research site so we can continue incorporating stakeholder voices into our project.”
The UA agrivoltaics project “Agrivoltaics: Unlocking Mid-Market Solar in Rural Northern Climates” is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office. The project team consisting of ACEP, the UAF Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension, Alaska Pacific University, Renewable IPP and CleanCapital is studying stakeholder perceptions, plant physiological data and solar energy generation at the farthest north agrivoltaics research site in Houston, Alaska.