Iowa State University Awarded $1.8 Mn Grant for Agrivoltaics Project

Iowa State University (ISU) is set to undertake a study on the benefits that bringing crops and solar power together can bring.

The ISU houses an innovative agrivoltaics project- the Alliant Solar Farm that was unveiled recently. The 1.75 NW agrivoltaic solar project will delve into optimisation of land while making a note of the community benefits it promises.

Students from different specializations will undertake studies on various aspects of the agrivoltaics project. While horticulture and agriculture students will plant crops to learn about their performance under solar arrays of differing heights and configurations, engineering students will study how the production of solar energy will be influenced due to crop plantation.

Project design

ISU and Alliant Energy, a firm which owns and operates the solar array on land leased from the university, have forged a partnership for the project. Waldinger Corporation acted as the general contractor for it while Ideal Energy served as subcontracter for solar design, procurement, monitoring, and solar commissioning. Civil and electrical engineering services were offered by Shive-Hattery, Inc.

The solar field is designed in two parts with one part of 811 kW_DC fixed-tilt solar array facing south. Six fixed-tilt rows boast a standard leading edge with height that is two feet from the ground in front. Three rows have a leading edge that is five feet tall. This has been done to study the impact that higher solar arrays can have on the growth of crops.

A 946 kW_DC single-axis active tracker forms the second part. Eighteen of the active-tracker rows are five to six feet high. Five rows are eight to nine feet from the ground.

Bifacial panels have been employed for the project.

Project grant

The project has been awarded a grant worth $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy by way of Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale (FARMS). Six projects, including the one by ISU, are part of the program worth $8 million. Leading the team is Ajay Nair, Associate Professor of Horticulture; Matt O’Neal Professor in Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology; and Anne Kimber, Director of the Electric Power Research Center.

Researchers will attempt to understand if crops grow well in a modified solar microclimate. Vegetables, fruits, as well as pollinator habitats will be cultivated under the solar arrays.

Research on agrivoltaics 

As per Science Direct, ‘Microclimate is the complex of environmental variables, including temperature, radiation, humidity and wind, to which the plant is exposed’.

Back in 2016, a study was undertaken in Germany to see how the alteration of microclimatic conditions by way of agrivoltaics impact select crops within an organic crop rotation. The crops selected for the research study were grass-clover, potato, winter wheat and celeriac.

To compare the effects on crops, they were also planted on an adjacent site but without solar panels. The agrivoltaics project emerged a winner as photosynthetic active radiation was curbed by close to 30%. Soil temperature was also reduced.

Agrivoltaics continues to be an area of discussion for scientists and researchers. A latest report from think-tanks working in the renewable energy sector claimed that better-designed pilot projects had shown that there was no negative impact on the growth of crops grown under agrivoltaics.