Greening Our Growing

If you’ve ever driven past acres of solar panels and wondered why the ground beneath them is barren, you’re not alone. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. With the advent of more clean energy initiatives like solar, there are always ways to improve the process. In the case of solar, the practices of agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics could help with both the green energy revolution and efforts towards food and energy sovereignty…plus benefit native species. Besides, it’s winter here in the US…let’s head down to the farm and get some sun!

I’m your host Jess Phoenix, and this is science.

Jess: I'm excited to talk to not one, but two of our awesome Union of Concerned Scientists team members today. Dr. Angel Fernández-Bou is a Western States Senior Climate Scientist here, and he works closely with Western States Energy Analyst, Vivian Yang. They're both neck-deep in how we can use clean, renewable energy to transform the way our society functions. Today, we're going to tackle agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics 101, which already sounds pretty cool to me. So, Vivian, why don't you start us off with just sort of a general background on what agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics even are?

Vivian: Yeah. So, agrivoltaics is the practice of combining crop production and solar energy generation on the same piece of land. So, thinking about designs, you could have these solar panels over your crop productions, you could have alternating rows of solar panels, and then whatever crops you're trying to grow. Ecovoltaics is a very similar concept, but in some ways a much broader definition of practice of combining ecological benefits into your solar panel production. So, whether that's pollinator habitats or native plant species habitats, just a system that is generating solar but is also providing these other environmental benefits.

Jess: So, it's kind of like smushing two concepts together and making them live happily ever after?

Vivian: Yeah, absolutely. And thinking more broadly, just a way to kind of make the most of the land you have.

Jess: So, Angel, it sounds like it's a fairly straightforward concept, but I know there's more there beneath the surface. So, can you kind of give us some of the scientific information behind the ways that agrivoltaics help protect the environment?

Angel: Yes, it's very straightforward. Actually, what Vivian said, this is about using the soil in multiple ways. In places like California, soil is so expensive that we need to be smart about how we use our land. So, in the case of agrivoltaics, for example, it's combining the crops with the energy generation, have some synergies both for the energy generation and for the crops. The crops can have the benefits in places like here. Where I live in Merced, it's super hot in the summer. The sun heats really, really hard. And providing shade to the crops, the shade provided by the solar panels can bring new opportunities to grow new things or to be better at growing things that we're already growing. And it's the same for solar panels. When they are in bare soil, they get very hot. But if they are over a cover crop or, you know, some crops that have evapotranspiration, then they will decrease the temperature of the solar panels, and they will be more productive. In the same amount of square feet of solar panels, they can produce more energy.

Jess: I'm sure a lot of people have seen, if they haven't seen them in person, but they've seen pictures or videos of the big fields of solar panels in the middle of open spaces, like, way out in the desert. So, does having solar panels and having the agrivoltaics approach in arid locations, does that actually really help farmers? And can you give me some examples of how this might work for real dry areas?

Angel: Actually, research tells us that in places that are drier, that are hotter, agrivoltaics works better for farmers because it casts the shade, it protects a lot of the water use, because the shade reduces the transpiration of the plants, so that in some places, it reduces up to 40% of the water use of the crops. So, that's a really good point in favor of agrivoltaics for farmers in arid regions because here in California, we know we don't have enough water, and we need to think how to use the water that we have in the best ways. And combining different revenue sources like agrivoltaics is a really good way to do it.

And you mentioned, for example, deserts. I mean, obviously, every energy project is controversial. There is no energy approach that I think is not controversial that I can think of. But I think putting solar panels in virgin lands, in protected lands, in deserts, for example, it can create new problems that we don't foresee. For example, we have problems here with valley fever, and moving the earth in soils that have been preserved for a long time can just release spores into the atmosphere. So, we don't want to foster the use of new soils. We have a lot of agriculture here in California. We will need to repurpose about a million acres of land. So, the part of the land can go to agrivoltaics or ecovoltaics to save water for agriculture and for the people and also to bring clean energy for everyone.

Jess: Farmers often don't want to change the way they do things unless it makes economic sense because profit margins for small farms, in particular, can be so, so slim. So, Vivian, how or does adopting agrivoltaics benefit farmers directly? And if it does, how does it do that?

Vivian: From the financial viability of these projects, there are a lot of different methods where incorporating solar can really help a farm's economics. And it's a little complicated because there are so many different design models, operating models, business models, regulatory factors that go into what kind of revenue streams that a solar project on your land can bring. One of the obvious ones people think about is net metering. And so, that's essentially when you are selling your excess electricity back into the grid. Recently, in California, those compensation rates were very much reduced. And so, that might make now net metering a less feasible option to have as an alternative revenue stream. But in agrivoltaics, too, you're on a farm. You have high utility bills on your farm, whether that's refrigeration or heating. And so, having on-site electricity generation can offset a lot of those utility bills, which is great.

Another kind of solar project model that people talk about is community solar. And so, that's when customers can subscribe to a local project and receive some of those more direct benefits of the solar project via reduced utility rates. And so, there are just a lot of different models in which having local solar generation can help not only the farmers, but also other community members. Thinking about the actual project itself, agrivoltaics does have a higher capital cost. A lot of times with the designs, you have to raise the solar panels up further, which is going to increase the amount of steel you need to use. Or if you're going to space them out further, you're not getting as many solar panels than you would in a traditional solar setup. And so, those costs are kind of hard to calculate at this point because it is just such different designs and models and how people are implementing agrivoltaics.

Jess: Angel, do you have anything to add to that? Is there some perspective you've got there?

Angel: Having a diversity of income sources reduces the risk of farmers. And, you know, agriculture is very risky and not everyone has the insurance. And having a second income in the same land is always very useful.

Jess: I know, Angel, you've done a lot of work in California's Central Valley, and it's a huge food production hub for the United States that a lot of people don't realize. So much of our food comes from Central California, but the area has had conflicts around agricultural water use for decades. And is that something that agrivoltaics can help with? And are those Central Valley communities, are they set up to benefit from more agrivoltaics use?

Angel: Yes, the scale, it will depend on how successful agrivoltaics become. But definitely, agrivoltaics is something that can be used to benefit communities. And we are seeing it. Some communities that are trying to implement agrivoltaic systems, that they are trying to create an agricultural economy that is sustainable based on agroecology, based on regenerative agriculture, based on a solidarity economy. We see that agrivoltaics can bring a lot of different benefits for the communities. And thinking more at the system level, maybe just reducing the agricultural demand, in general, will bring benefits, water security for nearby communities because a lot of the water that we use in California is pumped from the ground. A lot of farms depend on groundwater, but also many disadvantaged communities, many domestic wells also depend on the same groundwater. And they are competing for this scarce resource here in California. And agrivoltaics can reduce the amount of water that a farm uses. If you do that near a community, you can bring more water resilience to the community, you can also maintain your aquifer levels more stable, meeting the legislation. So, that will also lead to maybe reducing the amount of land that we have to repurpose because we will have to repurpose a lot of land.

Jess: Vivian, I know we've been talking quite a bit about California. I'm hoping that maybe you can give us some other areas in the country where people are starting to use agri and ecovoltaic solutions. Do you know of any?

Vivian: Well, so even outside the country, I feel like a lot of agrivoltaics innovation happened in Japan, which is a very land-scarce country. In Europe, too, a lot of countries have had a lot of innovation in agrivoltaics. Within the U.S., I know Colorado has done a lot. I was able to visit years ago an agrivoltaics farm called Jack's Solar Garden that was, you know, providing local food to a local co-op, providing electricity to the grid, and then also just acting as a research center so different universities could look at the impact of solar shading on their crops. And I know, too, the state has had some regulatory movement to kind of provide a little more guidance and regulatory certainty to help implement these agrivoltaics projects. I believe in the northeast, there's also been some movement in agrivoltaics. I think, you know, California in some ways is maybe a little behind. But, you know, given that it is such a big agricultural food production site, and then also, you know, we are planning on heavily relying on solar to reach our clean energy goals, I think it is a really good state where a lot of agrivoltaics can happen.

Jess: I know, Angel, you've done a lot of on-the-ground work. And I personally know farmers and ranchers who are opposed to solar and wind projects, and they believe renewable technology does more harm than good. And this is from whatever your personal or professional experiences. Have you seen much resistance to or excitement from farmers on the ground about this new way of farming?

Angel: Well, in my opinion, there is a lot of interest to understand what's going on because, I mean, as you said, farmers need also their economic resilience, and anything that can bring them less risk or even a new source of income or savings is good for them. And we see a lot of solar panels around here, maybe for, you know, wells, you know, agricultural wells. So, they can save thousands of dollars just because with a few solar panels. So, I think some farmers are very open to it. Obviously, there is also more, I guess, old-fashioned people that until recently, many people didn't even accept climate change. So, those are changes that are taking a while to be accepted. Now, it's difficult to explain something at the systems level if not everyone is on the same page.

But farmers are, in general...I mean, they want to provide for their families as anyone else, and they just see anything that threats their use of water as something bad, or something that takes power from agriculture because they won't be able to negotiate as well as before when they have more income, more land. So, I understand their perspective. But for those who are more trying to think about the future and the current conditions with climate change and even the agricultural markets over the world, they understand there are some risks, and they need to adapt. And if they don't adapt, they will have more problems. And I think they understand that. And I hope they will start adapting sooner than later.

Jess: How are educational outreach to farmers? How is the efforts to do that educational outreach? How's that going? The outreach efforts, are they targeting all the different communities that need to hear the message, or is it sort of the approach where they're only thinking about your stereotypical older white male farmer? Are they actually reaching the diversity of farmers that exist out there today?

Angel: But I think for outreach, regardless of the background of the person who is reached out, I think for outreach, the most essential thing that you need to understand is trust. When you want to tell someone something that will change their lives, you need to first gain their trust. And it's something that you won't get from one day to another. It's something that you need to earn with anyone, with disadvantaged communities, with farmers. No matter if they are small, big, they all deserve to trust the person who is advising them to make a change. So, I think that's the most important thing about outreach. There is many more efforts. I mean, since I moved to California almost 10 years ago, I see how engagement with disadvantaged communities, with the small and disadvantaged farmers is given more weight with time. So, I feel that things are improving in that way. But I still think that there is a gap in the trust, in general, between people and scientists. Sometimes scientists are a little bit disconnected of what people think. And I feel that's our responsibility to be more approachable, to be better at communicating, and to earn the trust of the people who need to learn from the cutting-edge science that will change their lives for the better.

Vivian: Off of that piece on trust, that's also something where I think the solar industry could do better with just engaging with communities, hearing their concerns. I think we think about these very large-scale solar projects kind of just taking over a lot of these rural areas. And a lot of times, you know, there hasn't been a proper process where communities are told about this and able to have their concerns heard and have those concerns addressed. And so, I think in terms of building trust, yeah, that's something I would also like to see within the solar community and whether that's our solar industry and whether that requires some sort of legislative action to require more community benefits agreements or just a better process in which we can transition to our clean energy future more equitably.

Jess: I actually wanted to ask about policy and policy initiatives, because I know that in the past, people are often slow to make changes without either government promoting something. And in some cases, the government is slow to make changes without people lobbying for those changes. So, what is the state of policy around agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics right now? And I'll throw it to Vivian for this one. And, Angel, if you've got a follow-up, go right ahead.

Vivian: Yeah. So, I think at this point, the policy is pretty sparse. You know, kind of what I was talking about in Colorado, how there has been movement in terms of guidance and just, you know, providing more certainty so that farmers know if they, you know, want to implement these projects, that there's just more guidance in how it happens. And I think in California, that uncertainty is really kind of preventing developers from being willing to invest and then also preventing some of the financing that could happen. Recently, Prop 4 in California passed that, is a climate bond, essentially, that would provide some, you know, funding for climate resilience projects, clean energy projects. So, agrivoltaics is something that could fall there. But, you know, I think even at the basic level of, you know, getting the definition of what is an agrivoltaic systems into, you know, some sort of statutory language would be really helpful.

Angel: I mean, as I was saying before, any energy project is controversial, but there is funding for energy projects. I mean, I agree completely what Vivian is saying. But sometimes you can think a little bit out of the box. Instead of calling agrivoltaics, you can call it a solar installation. And it's on a farm, and you also need batteries to recharge that. And then you can get funding for the battery, you can get funding for the solar, you can get maybe some funding for other activities that are related. But it's not easy, you know? It takes a long time, especially right now that is kind of starting. It's very difficult to find people who want to do the change. And when they want to do the change, it's very difficult for them to find funding.

But that said, in the case of agrivoltaics, I think it's a really, really good solution for small farmers and medium farmers. I think it can bring them, you know, very good advantages and more resilience, economic resilience, and water reductions. So, I think for them, it would be very good to start considering that, even though there is the need for more support, maybe more research, maybe more outreach. And in the case of ecovoltaics, I think it's a little bit different than agrivoltaics because ecovoltaics is very similar to a regular solar farm. You just need to implement some best practices that don't cost so much. So, in that case, I would say that it's just up to the landowner or the project manager to implement those small changes to make the project much better with ecovoltaics.

Vivian: Actually, so I just wanted to go back really quickly and talk about in terms of the policy. Angel mentioned more research is needed. And last year or two years ago, there was a bill introduced that would have set up pilot projects, demonstration projects. And I think that is a critical piece that is needed. I mentioned agrivoltaics in some ways, the proof of concept is there. So many countries, states have implemented it. But it also is regionally specific in that, you know, what crops you're growing, what the local climate is. And so, I think more research specific to California is really important in kind of laying that foundation to get more projects. That bill did not go through, unfortunately, although UCS did support it. So, there was a little bit of advocacy there.

Angel: So, one of the things that we are trying to do is to support disadvantaged communities and small communities, small groups, community-based organizations to showcase the solutions that we propose work. And one of those communities is Allensworth in Tulare County. And I've been working with them for several years. Vivian has also joined the group, and we have been engaging in multiple things. Allensworth has an amazing plan for the township. It's the first Black community created in California more than 100 years ago, and they have suffered from so much sabotage and systemic racism and a legacy of many structural problems that even though they don't exist today, that legacy still persists.

And the community has been fighting and fighting for decades. They have several community members, community leaders that are wonderful. And they have this holistic view of Allensworth, how to bring resilience, and prosperity, and happiness to people in Allensworth. And they are thinking about creating this agroecology hub. And inside the agroecology hub, they will create agrivoltaics. And the agrivoltaics will provide energy sovereignty to the community. And basically, nowadays they depend on PG&E, and their electricity goes back and forth, and they have cuts. Like, they were saying every other day. Every time they don't have electricity from PG&E, in a few hours, they lose the water because all their water is pumped. So, the community doesn't have water if they don't have electricity. So, in this case, energy security is water security. And they want to bring that and be controlled by them with a microgrid that is inside their agroecology hub.

So, Vivian and I have been working with them, collaborating, trying to help whenever we can at the systems level, not only with agrivoltaics, but with anything that we can because they are such an inspiring community to mirror, to be a role model for many other places. Because if they can succeed after all the sabotage that they have experienced for 100 years, then anyone can succeed in California and outside California. And part of our advocacy is to show that communities like Allensworth can move forward and be more resilient, be happier, increase their quality of life in part thanks to agrivoltaics. But it's, in fact, thanks to the community itself, thanks to the amazing leaders, thanks to their pure understanding, their deep understanding of their situation, and the potential solutions to bring, and agrivoltaics is one of them.

Jess: That is fascinating.

Vivian: So, I was just going to say, you know, agrivoltaics isn't going to get us to our California's clean energy goals. But I think the really important piece of agrivoltaics is that it's kind of designed to help, you know, local communities find solutions that work for them. And so, you know, it's going to contribute to the clean energy. But I think more importantly, you know, what it contributes to is community resilience. And I think that's why it is just a very cool piece of the clean energy puzzle.

Jess: I'd like to look to the future for a moment. So, the global population, as we know, is still growing, and people are consuming more. And some of those things are consumed as food products, and some of them are byproducts of agricultural crops. Like, corn is used for a lot of different applications. Does Agrivoltaics have the potential to help optimize food production as we navigate the 21st century?

Angel: Well, as Vivian is saying, agrivoltaics is not going to be the solution by itself to food security or to a clean energy transition, but it can help. When I think about agrivoltaics, I think about small farmers, communities that are together investing on idea, and this idea is bringing them some positive outcomes. And in the case of agrivoltaics, if you think, for example, about multiple small farmers adopting this, this will bring more diversity to their crops, and that will bring more diversity to the local markets, and that will bring more diversity to their diet, which means more food and nutrition security. So, in the case of agrivoltaics, it can also save water. So, maybe you can produce a little bit less, but you can produce in higher quality because agrivoltaics also covers the soil with a shade that promotes beneficial microbes that bring more nutrients to the plants so the plants can themselves be more nutritious.

Jess: Well, we are nearing the end. Angel, we are the Union of Concerned Scientists, why are you concerned?

Angel: One of my main concerns is to not be able to communicate scientific facts, the reality so we all are in the same baseline. I mean, I don't see it as responsibility of the people. I see a responsibility of us scientists that are not being good enough at communicating our work. And maybe we have to go out of our comfort zone and talk to people we don't want to talk, and maybe become friends with people we didn't think we would become friends so we can, you know, have some trust, and with that trust, we can chat and listen, especially listen, but also talk about how things are, how we see science, and how science can help us all, right? But having the same baseline with everyone... We're trying to serve here everyone with our science, but we need to be maybe more aware of how or what is the best way to communicate our science so people will be able to digest it and to trust it. And I think that would be a fantastic outcome that would make me less concerned.

Jess: That's great. And so, Vivian, the second part of the question is designed to be a little more optimistic. And so, you have your own concerns, you're here, but we are a group of people that we don't just sit around and act concerned. Like, we actually do things. And so, I wanted to know, what are you doing about your concerns right now?

Vivian: I mean, working at the Union of Concerned Scientists feels like a big part of how I am addressing these concerns. And, you know, in my job, I engage in a lot of different spaces. So, you know thinking of the coalitions I work into and just hearing the passion and the work and effort so many people are putting, you know, in my space, the clean energy transition is really inspiring.

I find that, you know, just finding ways to engage with people, friends, or just others who might not, you know, be aware of what's happening and why it's important. But communicating and engaging, I think, that's how I address all the concerns I have.

Angel: Many of us at UCS are also volunteers in our free time. Some of these advocacy projects that we have at UCS, now is because, you know, some of us started talking to community friends, and we became friends with community leaders. And after years, they asked us for something. And it happens that UCS is interested, and especially to not be extractive. You know, when we talk about communities, not to just, you know, do it for ourselves, but doing in a way that serves the communities. We do a lot of volunteer work beyond our work at UCS, many, many of us.

Jess: That's one of the most important things is if somebody is in this line of work, we're here because we love it, not because we're going to get rich, not because we're going to get famous. It's because this matters to us all on a professional and a personal level.

Big thanks to Angel Fernandez-Bou and Vivian Yang, and to Omari Spears and Abby Figueroa for production help.

Happy New Year to you, my Science Sunshine!