By Blake Jackson
Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) has received a $5 million grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to establish solar arrays at university farms in Ithaca and the Hudson Valley.
The projects will support pioneering research in agrivoltaics - the integration of food and energy production on the same land.
The grant will fund the planning and construction of a 2-acre, 300-kilowatt solar array over high-density apple orchards at the Cornell Hudson Valley Research Laboratory and a 7-acre, 900-kilowatt array at Cornell’s Ithaca campus.
Researchers will examine how factors such as solar panel height, spacing, and orientation affect crop performance and energy output.
The Hudson Valley installation will be the first agrivoltaic research site above an apple orchard in the United States, according to Jared Buono, director of the Hudson Valley Research Laboratory.
“Similar projects in Europe and Korea over orchards and vineyards have shown promising results,” Buono said, noting benefits such as protection from hail and reduced heat stress. The panels will be movable, allowing researchers to adjust sunlight exposure to improve fruit quality. “For a lot of specialty crop types, the yield might actually benefit from a small amount of shade. And that’s the sweet spot we’re hoping to find,” he said.
The Ithaca site, located southeast of the Fleet Services parking lot, will feature a variety of annual and perennial crops. “The site is not very high-quality farmland, and, in an ideal world, the solar that gets installed would go into this type of marginal land rather than prime farmland,” said Caroline Marschner, an extension associate in the School of Integrative Plant Science.
CALS researchers will explore multiple sun-tracking systems and crop types. “The unique part about this is that the system design will enable us to test multiple crops and multiple sun-tracking systems,” said Julie Suarez, associate dean of CALS.
“We are proud to partner with farmers, developers, and research partners to advance projects that support solar as a resource to produce energy in New York State while sustaining agriculture operations for economic growth,” NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said.
“By examining different means of integrating agriculture operations and clean energy siting, we will build our understanding of the costs, benefits and market potential of locating two essential industries in the same space.”
Photo Credit: istock-simplycreativephotography
Categories: New York, Education, Energy