From the Field
Berkeley-Based Team to Explore Equitable Agrivoltaics in California
Agrivoltaics provides a potential solution to addressing problems faced in both the agricultural and energy industries at once.
The notion of ‘Solar Farms’ has become ubiquitous in plans for clean energy expansion around the world. However, agricultural producers and food system advocates are keenly aware of the absence of any true farming taking place on most of these large solar sites.
But — what if there could be a productive use for the land under solar panels that is good for clean energy and good for farmers and their communities? A team of UC Berkeley researchers and affiliates have been awarded an Interdisciplinary Climate & Equity Seed Grant from the Vice Chancellor of Research’s Office to ask just that.
“Agrivoltaics is unique as a solution because it addresses a variety of problems faced by agricultural and energy industries at once,” said Bob Epstein, Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) Advisory Council and Executive Committee Member and co-founder of non-profit Project 2030.
Agrivoltaics co-locate industrial-scale solar projects with commercial agricultural production (e.g. livestock, crops) to produce renewable energy that can be exported. And while more California farmers have renewable energy systems, primarily rooftop solar, to power their operations than farmers in any other state, California has very few installations of agrivoltaics on farms and ranches.
The interdisciplinary research team is committed to centering justice and equity while integrating research on agricultural transitions with research on clean energy transitions, two fields that are rarely combined.
- Federico Castillo, Project Scientist, Environmental Science, Policy and Management & Berkeley Food Institute
- Dan Kammen, Distinguished Professor at Energy Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy and Nuclear Engineering
- Marc Weiss, Visiting Professor at College of Environmental Design
- Tim Bowles Associate Professor, Environmental Science, Policy and Management & Berkeley Food Institute
- Charlene Kaloki, Community Programs Manager, College of Environmental Design
- Hossein Ayazi, Senior Policy Analyst, Othering & Belonging Institute
- Bob Epstein, Co-founder, Project 2030
- Meghan Reisenauer, Researcher, Project 2030
- Jeanne Merrill, Executive Director, Berkeley Food Institute
- Neha Sanghera, Policy Director, Berkeley Food Institute
- Scott Chang-Fleeman, Administrative and Finance Director, Berkeley Food Institute
- Sarah Sarfaty Epstein, Policy Assistant, Berkeley Food Institute
“While agrivoltaics have a lot of potential in California to help farm with limited water and rising temperatures, economies of scale and conventional business models would likely favor installations on large-scale farms and ranches,” said Tim Bowles, Associate Professor of Agroecology and Faculty Director of BFI. “Small and mid-sized farms and ranches should not be left out of this, and surrounding communities and agricultural workers should also benefit. In partnership with communities interested in agrivoltaics, we will co-develop new models for agrivoltaics that provide equitable benefits.”
The team’s central research question explores how the multiple climate and environmental benefits of agrivoltaic systems can be equitably distributed. As first steps to tackle this question, the team will use a method called participatory mapping, to identify locations for agrivoltaics that are geographically and socially optimal. In addition, the project will study policy conditions that present barriers or opportunities to agrivoltaics in the state, maintaining a focus on farm viability and opportunities for producers throughout.
This spring, the team will convene a two-day workshop and invite key researchers from across the UC system, the Lawrence Berkeley and Livermore National Labs, agricultural producers, community-based organizations focused on climate justice, farmworker wellbeing as well as agrivoltaic companies.The goal will be to co-develop participatory research and policy priorities for accelerating a just transition to renewable energy and water-smart farming systems. The team will also strategize about funding for future work, as well as community-based demonstration projects and resources for research and development of appropriate technology.
Photo by PV Magazine
The spring workshop will help generate research questions of particular relevance to California. While increasing climate resilience for farmers, farmworkers and the food supply chain, shading from agrivoltaics may mitigate the impact of temperature extremes that harm crops and farmworkers while also reducing water loss and irrigation water demand. “These benefits are most markedly shown in dry, hot areas like California’s heavily agricultural Central Valley,” according to Epstein.
The energy produced by agrivoltaic systems can be distributed through the grid or potentially “behind the meter” over private lines to power industrial and community-scale projects, like food processing, water pumping, community electric vehicle charging stations, and more. This project aims to explore opportunities and challenges associated with these multiple use-cases for solar energy generated on-farm.
With a growing interest in renewable energy, agricultural land is attractive for solar energy development because it is often flat, open, and close to electrical infrastructure. Co-location of solar and agriculture increases land use efficiency and can increase farmer and rancher incomes from solar leases, potentially helping prevent the loss of agricultural land to urban sprawl and alleviating land-use conflicts.
For further information, contact BFI Executive Director, Jeanne Merrill at jeannemerrill@berkeley.edu.