Now more than ever, cultivable land is a scarce commodity. Humans have been responsible for the destruction of one-third of forests and two-thirds of wild grasslands around the world since the end of the last ice age. The majority of this destruction was done for agricultural purposes. And as the world’s population continues to rise (reaching 8 billion as of November of last year), there is an ever-increasing demand placed on agricultural land to generate not just more food but also clean energy.
The ever-increasing overhead expenditures that small farmers all around the world have to contend with, including rising electricity prices, have a negative impact on profitability. Installing portable solar panels on farms is an excellent way for farmers to significantly cut their monthly energy bills while practicing sustainable agriculture.
Optimizing Solar Panels for Agriculture
A new study conducted at the University of California, Davis, demonstrates how farmers may soon be able to simultaneously harvest food and energy on the same ground. Researchers came to the conclusion that different bands in the visible spectrum of light could be filtered and used for their intended purposes independently. For example, blue light waves could be used to generate solar power, while red light waves could be used to grow fruits and vegetables. This would allow for the most efficient use of farmland while also reducing heat stress and crop waste.
If we can find a way to make the most of the land for both types of agriculture, then why should we have to choose between them? Majdi Abou Najm, a co-author on the research, and a UC Davis (Department of Land, Air, and Water) associate professor, wonders.
He says that photons, which are the constituent particles of light, each have their own unique set of characteristics: When compared to their red counterparts, blue photons have a higher energy level, which causes them to produce light with a shorter wavelength and a higher frequency. Although this causes blue light to receive the jolt it needs to produce power, the increased pulsing also causes temperatures to rise as a side effect.
According to Abou Najm, red photons tend to be the most effective ones for a plant's photosynthesis process. They do not cause the plant to experience heat.
The study's co-author, associate professor of architectural, environmental, and civil engineering at Padova University, Matteo Camporese, along with Abou Najm, used computational modeling to determine that exposing plants to red light waves boosts photosynthesis and carbon assimilation (the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds) while decreasing transpiration. In other words, Camporese claims that crops may get by with less water, while receiving as much CO2 under the colder spectrum.
Although the hydroponic light systems utilized for indoor farming served as the basis for their research, Abou Najm notes that they have a significant energy cost. For this reason, they decided to go with sunlight as the input.
According to Abou Najm, one of the study's key objectives is "to inspire the industry to develop a new solar panel generation.” In contrast to the gleaming, metallic surfaces made of silicon, Camporese feels that organic solar cells, which are made of carbon-based materials, have a lot of potential. The cells, which are thin and translucent, are applied like a film to a variety of surfaces, including glass. According to him, this technology might be utilized to create photo-selective solar panels that pass the red spectrum to crops that are directly below while filtering blue light to generate power.
Land usage efficiency has improved thanks to the expanding field of agrivoltaics, which involves the simultaneous cultivation of food crops and electricity generation. This is accomplished by strategically placing traditional solar arrays throughout the crop fields. (A variant called solar grazing allows animals to graze in between the panels). Heat-sensitive fruits and leafy vegetables are protected from the sun's hottest rays by the slanted panels; in turn, the plants cool the soil around the heat-sensitive cells by transpiring water.
Less light equals less yield, explains Camporese; therefore, agrivoltaics plants are planted in partial shade. This limits how many solar panels and trees may be installed on cogeneration farms. Translucent arrays, on the other hand, would permit complete field cover for both, which, as he points out, would maximize land utilization and significantly increase productivity per acre.
Photo-selective cropping was the subject of a small-scale field investigation at the Agricultural Department Station at UC Davis last May. In order to determine the effects of a red photo-selective filter, a blue photo-selective filter, and no filter at all on processing tomatoes, which are a common crop in the Sacramento Valley, the team planted them in three tiny, equally sized plots.
After around four months, during which a record heatwave occurred in the first week of September, the exposed plot produced almost a third more than either of the filtered ones. Yet, when sorted by quality (ripe, unripe, and "poor"), almost twice as many spoiled tomatoes ended up in the control plot. According to Abou Najm, using the filters significantly decreased crop wastage.
He claims that the loss of harvest may be more than made up for by the addition of energy production. As a result of integrating solar power generation with agricultural operations, "100 percent becomes a pretty modest number when you can obtain 120 or 140 percent yields."
While the production of renewable energy requires ten times as much land per unit of power as fossil fuels, this fact makes higher productivity extra valuable for countries and regions experiencing a severe shortage of farmland.
Other than that, Abou Najm recognizes the canopied method's potential for helping farmers deal with extreme weather. Reduced transpiration and protection from the sun's rays mean that farmers can use less water without negatively impacting crop yields. Furthermore, he says, farmers can help the agricultural sector transition to electrical vehicles and other equipment by generating their own power to counteract rising energy costs.
Abou Najm predicts that the world's population will have increased by two billion by 2050, necessitating an additional 60 percent more food, 40 percent more water, and 50 percent additional energy. The rapidly growing demands call for groundbreaking research to find effective solutions.
He further explains that by making the most of the sun's spectrum, we are making the most of a resource that may be used indefinitely. The potential for optimization is boundless if a technique emerges to create these panels.
Agrivoltaics in France – a Case Study
![portable solar panels for farming]()
The use of land for both agricultural purposes and solar energy generation is on the rise in France.
Solar energy firm TSE is running an experiment in the Haute-Saône region, which is located in the country's northeast. It wants to know if large-scale cereal crops can be grown with solar power generation.
Agrivoltaics has already been experimented with through smaller-scale programs. TSE, however, is putting 5,500 solar panels on this farm near the Amance town to determine if it can succeed on an industrial scale.
If the crossover is successful, it might revolutionize both the solar panel and agricultural industries.
Using Solar Panels to Shield Crops from Climate Change
The objective was to meet France’s renewable energy development needs without displacing agricultural land, according to TSE's director of agronomy development and research, Xavier Guillot.
This would allow for the continuous growth of agricultural and agronomic operations, in this case involving both field crops and livestock.
Guillot explains that the objective is to allow farmers to continue producing food while protecting their crops from the effects of climate change – such as droughts and extremely hot temperatures observed in summer.
The Energy-Production Potential of these Solar Panels
TSE is amongst the leading solar energy generators in France. It claims that during peak hours, these trial solar panels can produce 2.5 megawatts, which is enough to meet the needs of 1,350 people.
The panels can move vertically to avoid getting wet when it rains, and they can also move horizontally to follow the sun. Vertically, they can raise or lower temperatures by a few degrees Celsius, depending on the season, and horizontally, they can reduce the impact of hail.
Agrivoltaic Setups Can be More Productive – Despite Reduced Yields
The potential food and energy yield of an agrivoltaic project is very sensitive to factors such as system location, crop type, and panel orientation.
A key benefit of portable solar panels for farming is that you can keep changing the location and angle of the solar system in order to maximize sunlight absorption.
To avoid shading their crops from the sun, farmers in regions with less abundant sunshine, such as Germany or Denmark, must use fewer panels and place them at greater distances apart.
But, overall, agrivoltaic plots are more productive because they give you two outputs simultaneously. Any yield reduction is still preferable to yielding nothing. It is about establishing the ideal economic balance.
To increase the output of agrivoltaic systems in low-light settings, scientists are also working with unique technologies, including vertical photovoltaic ‘fences’, semi-transparent panels, and grow lights attached on the underside of solar panels.
Agrivoltaic Systems are Particularly Crucial for Drought-Stricken Areas
Some of the best outcomes from agrivoltaic systems have been produced so far in difficult, hot growing conditions, such as those seen in Arizona. According to a study, cherry tomato and chiltepin pepper production grew twofold and threefold, respectively, with the use of solar panels.
Those regions are hot and drought-frequented. Thus, the crops can benefit from having a little more shade over them.
Panels placed at a higher density to shelter crops from sun and UV damage yielded similar effects on a Kenyan test plot, allowing for increased energy generation while lowering water requirements for irrigation by 47%. Also, the setup resulted in cabbages that were 24% larger than those grown without solar panels.
For nations like Kenya, where food and water security are already being threatened by severe droughts brought on by global warming and where national grid electricity is becoming increasingly expensive, these developments and results are of paramount importance.
By reducing dependence on the national grid, these regions can become more self-sufficient. Other than that, this can also make farmers more resilient to climate change since they are essentially devising favorable growing conditions and minimizing the effects of extreme weather conditions.
Portable Solar Panels are Agricultural Game Changers
The affordability of portable solar panels makes them more accessible to subsistence and small-scale farmers, who can use solar energy to reduce their national grid reliance, lower their energy bills, and incorporate sustainable agricultural practices.
If you are a farmer looking to benefit from a portable solar panel system, we invite you to check out our wide range of options. We offer many different types of portable solar panels, generators, and kits, and can help you choose one based on your budget, saving/income targets, location/peak sunlight hours, and energy requirements. To learn more, please feel free to get in touch today.
