Study Shows Solar And Farming Can Co-Exist In UK

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The UK is not immune from the silly notion extensively hyped by fossil fuel interests that solar and farming are bitter enemies. There is plenty of drama throughout the British Isles about how solar is ruining the agriculture industry, even though far more farmland has been devoted to golf courses than solar installations. Researchers at the University of Sheffield decided to actually do some research instead of trading insults back and forth on social media. The result of that research was a rather stunning conclusion — that properly designed agrivoltaics could help the UK reach its solar power targets and achieve its goal of being a net zero economy by 2050. Here’s more from the study, which was published recently in the journal Applied Energy:

“Solar PV and agriculture generally have similar land requirements — abundant sunlight and relatively flat ground — meaning the most suitable land for PV is often identified as having high agricultural potential. Large scale solar parks provide the cost effective means of delivering high generation capacities needed to meet the Government’s ambitions for renewable energy production, but non-agricultural or low grade agricultural land is often not suitable for PV because of incompatible terrain and/or excessive distance to a grid connection point…. While delivering much needed low carbon electricity, deployment of solar parks could therefore conflict with agricultural land, particularly problematic for land designated as ‘best and most versatile’ (BMV) agricultural land in England and Wales, and ‘arable agriculture’ (AA) in Scotland. This raises the urgent need to balance electricity generation targets with agricultural production.”

Solar And Farming

In a blog post, the University of Sheffield said that current government plans to significantly increase ground-mounted solar parks have proven contentious and unpopular with farmers and the public alike. Concerns about the loss of high quality agricultural land, potential impacts on food production and cost of living, and the visual impact on landscapes are among factors fueling the criticism. This study demonstrates that the deployment of agrivoltaics, which would see solar photovoltaic panels installed in ways to allow for farming activities underneath or between panels, could enable the simultaneous production of crops, livestock, and renewable energy. Agrivoltaics has such high coverage potential that it could meet UK government PV targets on its own, while avoiding land use conflicts.

Professor Sue Hartley, vice president for research and innovation at the University of Sheffield and co-author of the study, said “The Government and solar developers have ambitious plans for the expansion of solar farms but these risk the loss of agricultural land needed for food production at a time when global food security is threatened by geopolitical uncertainty and climate change. Agrivoltaic technology is a potential way out of this dilemma. It allows us to use the same area of land for both food and clean energy production, addressing some of the criticism leveled at solar farms. This technology is in regular use in many areas of the world, including areas like Scandinavia with less sunlight than the UK, but has not yet been adopted here. Our research identifies the areas in the UK where this technology can be most effectively deployed, both to mitigate land use conflicts and deliver the UK’s energy needs.”

Regions identified for the effective deployment of agrivoltaics include Cambridgeshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, and the broader East and South East of England. Several factors contribute to this suitability, including the availability of flat land, the extent of existing agricultural use, grid connectivity, and the prevalence of solar radiation. By exploring agrivoltaic systems installed on farmland in Tanzania and Kenya, the researchers found the technology produced low carbon electricity while also significantly boosting crop yields and conserving water in regions that are acutely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. They found that certain crops, such as maize, Swiss chard, and beans, thrived under the partial shade provided by solar panels. The shade also reduced water evaporation while the panels themselves provided rainwater to supplement irrigation needs.

Co-author Dr Richard Randle-Boggis said, “Research on agrivoltaics is extensive in mainland Europe, but very little has been done in the UK. Our next step should be field experiments to test the performance of the systems, investigate different designs with different crops and better understand the perspectives of local communities and other stakeholders. The loss of farmland is typically a major reason communities oppose solar park development in their local areas. Our research takes a leading step in demonstrating where solar parks could be developed alongside agricultural activities so that farmland is not lost.” As we wrote last year, “Use agrivoltaics where it works. Don’t use it where it doesn’t.” Simple, huh?

Fear Of The Unknown

The argument is always the same. We can put oil derricks outside school classrooms, but we can’t allow our children to see a solar panel or a wind turbine for fear their psyches will be forever damaged. We can pump billions of gallons of highly polluted, radioactive water underground at high pressure in order to release more crude oil and methane, but we must not let anything disturb our bucolic landscape. We may recognize that weather patterns are different than they were when we were kids, but never question why that might be. We must attack scientists who might possibly know a thing or two, but never question the drivel issuing from so-called “influencers” on social media. We can scream Fuck Biden! at the top of our lungs at NASCAR tracks, but must bend the knee and swear eternal fealty to a tyrant who humiliates the leader of another country and then proudly posts a video of his bullying online to prove how powerful he imagines himself to be.

Eventually, and sooner than we think, the effects of our fossil fuel driven society will make themselves felt in ways that we can scarcely imagine. Our palatial homes will become uninhabitable and worthless. Economies will collapse. Nations will fail. And we will be left to wonder how we never saw this coming. Research like this recent study from the University of Sheffield offers possible solutions if we are willing to act on the results, but chances are we won’t. By the time we do, it will be much too late. The inability of humans to see the future and take appropriate steps to limit the damage done by our own actions will be our undoing. Other species have disappeared from the face of the Earth and there is no guarantee that humans won’t be next. The Earth won’t care. New species will arise to take our place, and the planet will continue its journey around the sun without us. We would not listen, we’re not listening still. Perhaps we never will?