Farmer

Farmer solar power generation project

Farmers can benefit from solar energy in several ways—by leasing farmland for solar; installing a solar system on a house, barn, or other building; or through agrivoltaics. . Joshua Pearce and Ethan Winter lead efforts to understand the impact and encourage large-scale solar power generation on farmland. Agrivoltaics, a relatively new term, unites cropping practices and solar panels on the same fields. Installed solar panels can provide a perennial electrical energy. . NREL researcher Jordan Macknick works with teams from University of Massachusetts (UMass) Clean Energy Extension and Hyperion on a photovoltaic dual-use research project at the UMass Crop Animal Research and Education Center in South Deerfield, MA. Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL. This is Part 3 in a five-part multimedia feature. . In Colorado, we are learning how it's possible to harvest more than just electricity on a solar farm. Just south of Longmont, Colorado, in the sun-drenched foothills of the Front Range, is a small but bustling family-owned farm.