Growing Power

…we harnessed the sun to strengthen food production and renewable energy, in the same place, for the benefit of all?

Through SCAPES (Sustainably Colocating Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems), a new project funded by the USDA, we’re researching agrivoltaic systems—fields with both crops and solar panels—in a variety of land and climate types.

Our goal? Address fundamental climate-change challenges while increasing crop production, producing renewable energy, and maximizing farm profitability.

We believe in the transformative potential for agrivoltaics. Through our interdisciplinary research, we explore how crops and panels interact, which crops benefit most, the impact on crop prices, how farms can thrive, and much more. Our aim is to maintain—or even increase—crop yield, increase the combined food and electricity productivity of land, and diversify and increase farmers’ profits with row crops, forage, and specialty crops across a range of environments.