New Site at the Energy Farm Will Accelerate Agrivoltaics Research

A new agrivoltaic system is up and running at the University of Illinois Energy Farm, custom-designed to support the SCAPES project (Sustainable Colocation of Agricultural and Photovoltaic Electricity Systems), a USDA NIFA-funded initiative that explores the integration of solar energy production and agriculture.

This innovative research site will allow SCAPES scientists to study how solar panels and crops can share space while optimizing energy generation and crop yield, said Madhu Khanna, iSEE Director and leader of the SCAPES project.

Bringing the agrivoltaic site at the Energy Farm online was made possible by the sustained coordination between the Energy Farm team, led by Director Tim Mies, along with Facilities & Services and Purchasing & Procurement. The facility was funded through the SCAPES project and supported by collaboration across campus, including the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES), the Grainger College of Engineering, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS).

“This facility demonstrates the relentless commitment of faculty, staff, and students to think big and ambitiously; to meaningful and transformative public engagement; to reciprocal relationships with our partners; and to advancing research and innovation that addresses grand challenges in our world,” said John Coleman, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Illinois. “This work is accelerated by a remarkable level of interdisciplinary collaboration.”

Led by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE), SCAPES brings together scientists, engineers, and economists from Illinois and five partner institutions (University of Illinois Chicago, University of Arizona, Colorado State University, Auburn University, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory) to study the potential of agrivoltaics across diverse climates.

“The truth is, farmland and solar farms often want the same things: flat, open, sun-drenched fields with access to the grid,” Khanna said at the Sept 4. grand opening of the agrivoltaic site. “Agrivoltaics offers a way to move past that either-or choice, by making it possible to harvest the sun twice, for food and for energy. But the science was untested. Could crops thrive under solar panels? Could developers make it economically viable? Those were the questions that brought us here.”

With partners across Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona, SCAPES researchers are working to answer these questions. On the Illinois campus, this work has united researchers from six departments: Crop Sciences, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Environmental Science, Economics, Plant Biology, and Education. Dozens of faculty, postdocs, and students have poured their energy into this project, examining everything from how shading alters microclimates, to how farmers and solar developers weigh the incentives to adopt agrivoltaics.

“What is happening here will benefit the community, the farmers, the state, the nation, and the world for years to come,” said Rashid Bashir, Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering.

The new agrivoltaic site at the Energy Farm features an 88-kilowatt solar array that consists of 152 bifacial panels that rotate throughout the day to best capture solar energy. The system’s layout was designed to maximize solar performance while also providing enough space to accommodate agricultural equipment: The solar panels are arranged in 160-foot-long rows that are elevated six feet above the ground and with 40 feet between each row.

Crops are planted directly under and between the solar panels, allowing researchers to assess light distribution, microclimate effects, crop growth, and energy yield in tandem. This cultivated research area totals 0.63 acres.

This facility builds upon previous SCAPES research. While working towards bringing this new agrivoltaic site online, the Illinois SCAPES team has also made use of Solar Farm 2.0 and built a small-scale “hortivoltaics” site at the Energy Farm, where specialty crops are grown below solar panels. The new agrivoltaic site is noteworthy, however, for being the first at-scale facility at Illinois that was designed specifically for agrivoltaics.

Combined with information gathered from parallel systems at SCAPES research sites in Colorado and Arizona, researchers are using these data to create predictive models.

“With these models, we can develop tools that will help people across the country navigate optimizing their agrivolatic system for both solar power and crop yield,” said Carl Bernacchi, SCAPES researcher and Professor of Crop Sciences at Illinois. “This would also be useful, for example, for a farmer who might be interested in adding solar panels to their field but wants to better understand how agrivoltaic integration would impact their crop yields.”

This project isn’t just about research. Through transformative education and outreach efforts, the SCAPES team aims to draw others into the conversation about building a future where energy and agriculture can grow together.

“We’ve opened our doors to farmers, developers, and community members,” Khanna said. “We’ve welcomed state legislators and national leaders, including our very own Senator Durbin. And we’ve built international connections in partnership with the College of ACES through the Aspen Institute Germany and a transatlantic partnership focused on reducing land-use conflicts.”

To reach laypeople and the farmers of the future, SCAPES educators partnered with Balance Studios to develop an agrivoltaic simulation app, called My Agrivoltaic Farm. Based on data gathered at SCAPES research sites, this educational game empowers children and adults alike to design and test their own agrivoltaic systems.

“The app has already been a hit at science museums in St. Louis, Bloomington, and Indianapolis, where the Children’s Museum is now considering making it a permanent feature,” Khanna said.

Be it through education, outreach, or research, SCAPES is at the cutting edge of agrivoltaic innovation, and the new research site at the Energy Farm is well-positioned to facilitate groundbreaking work.

“This facility is the result of asking bold questions and finding solutions with real-world impacts,” said Shaowen Wang, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “This is science in action.”

— Article by iSEE Communications Specialist April Wendling