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Largest Farm to Grow Crops Under Solar Panels Proves To Be A Bumper Crop For Agrivoltaic Land Use
(site.extension.uga.edu)
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this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
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I guess it would depend on the crops, but wouldn't it somewhat limit the use of farming equipment. I assume you're not going to fit a tractor in the field with those panels and supports.
It depends on the type of supporting structure for the panels. In Germany a company built it tall enough to use their normal farm equipment: Image
I've seen pictures of massive tractors pulling several ploughs side by side in the US, that would most likely not work with this, but there are plenty of solutions for anything on a slightly smaller scale.
The original story from NPR says that they're able to drive their tractor between the panels. It's interesting that the project could essentially be described as an end run around a historic designation though. They put 1.2 MW of solar up, and from reading between the lines it seems that's how they're making money, the farming seems to be much more of a side thing that they're required to do for historic reasons.
It's usually permanent pasture grazing that's mixed with solar panels. Take low value land that doesn't support the use of large equipment, add value with panels and get free shade for livestock.
Another technique is covering canals with solar panels, with both advantages in terms of lower evaporation and higher efficiency due to the cooling effect of water on panels.
There's lots of startups making smaller agile AI powered electric robotics for agriculture. Would pair well with a farm like this.
They use robotic equipment mixed with occasional human support. It's possible but it's a high tech farm, quite expensive and thus not open to every farmer. Tractors, even small ones, are quite huge for that kind of farming practice.