Solar Farm Shade in the Fall Reduces Radish and Radicchio Yields

By Krishna Ramanujan

A series of studies by Cornell researchers is testing how crops might grow when planted between rows of solar panels on a solar farm in New York state.

By acquiring real data, researchers may provide farmers and policymakers with important information, as growing crops between rows of solar panels to maximize dual land use will be increasingly critical, especially since New York’s utility-scale solar farms cover roughly 9,300 acres of land.

In the first of a series of studies, published July 29 in the journal Environmental Research Food Systems, Cornell researchers tested a 2024 fall crop of radishes and radicchio grown between rows of solar panels, which yielded useful findings on the limitations of a fall planting.