Solar panels over veggie crops could triple rural income
Rasooli S, Farhoodi S, Spataru C, Cervantes-Avilés PA, Huerta-Aguilar CA
Climate Adaptation
If you've ever wondered whether solar panels and food crops have to compete for the same land, this study shows a shade-tolerant crop rotation under panels can outearn a traditional monoculture field.
Researchers looked at what happens when farmers in rural Mexico put solar panels above their fields and switch from growing just corn to rotating in lettuce, tomato, spinach, and potato underneath. The combined income from selling electricity and diversified produce grew the local economy's value far more than sticking with corn alone, and the setup produced electricity cheaply enough to help power nearby homes. Growing several different vegetables instead of one crop also makes farms sturdier against bad weather and price swings.
Key Findings
Converting just 5%, 10%, or 15% of rainfed maize fields to agrivoltaics raised the municipality's net present value from 86.7 million MXN (business-as-usual) to 162.4, 230.0, and 297.4 million MXN respectively.
The photovoltaic component achieved a levelized cost of electricity of 837 MXN/MWh (about 47.4 USD/MWh), a competitive clean energy price.
Replacing maize monoculture with a rotation of lettuce, tomato, spinach, and potato under the panels diversified income and improved resilience to market and climate shocks.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Placing solar panels over portions of rainfed maize fields in rural Mexico, and switching those areas to vegetables like lettuce, tomato, spinach, and potato, could triple a municipality's long-term economic value while also generating clean electricity for local homes.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Agrivoltaics for Rural Development: Energy Security, Crop Diversification, and Sustainability on Mexican Rainfed Maize Farms.
Resource availability, poverty, and underdevelopment are bottlenecks of modernization in rural communities. This study proposes a rural electrification and development strategy through deploying ag...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...