By Krisy Gashler
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has awarded Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences $5 million to build solar arrays at university farms in Ithaca and the Hudson Valley, enabling research in agrivoltaics – the practice of co-locating food and energy production.
The $5 million grant to CALS will enable planning and development of a 2-acre, 300-kilowatt solar array above high-density apple orchards at the Cornell Hudson Valley Research Laboratory and a 7-acre, 900-kilowatt solar array at one of the research farms on Cornell’s Ithaca campus. The arrays will allow researchers to investigate how solar panel spacing, height, direction and other design considerations impact crop success.
The Hudson Valley project will be the first agrivoltaic research installation above an apple orchard in the United States, said Jared Buono, director of the Hudson Valley Research Laboratory. Similar projects in Europe and Korea over orchards and vineyards have shown promising results, such as solar panels protecting plants from hail and helping plants retain moisture during heat waves, he said.
Source : cornell.edu