Our Mission

There are growing demands for food and renewable energy. Illinois, Arizona, and Colorado, among many others, are seeing increased photovoltaic deployment, and these regions also have strong agricultural communities. The SCAPES Research Team aims to reducethe competition for land by determining how to efficiently co-locate photovoltaic and agricultural systems in a variety of different biogeographical regions.

Additionally, water resources in the West are dwindling. Our research seeks to maximize water utilization and management in agrivoltaic systems by integrating climate-smart agricultural practices into our systems. Early results suggest that agrivoltaic systems can reduce the amount of water used for irrigation and can help direct rainfall to where it’s most needed.

We need regionally-derived solutions to make widespread agrivoltaic deployment effective. Much of the existing research is done at case-study sites across the world, so the opportunity to do a study that spans multiple climates is an exciting one.

Through our cross-country collaboration and coordination of measurements, modeling, and economic analysis, the SCAPES Research Team will seek regionally-derived sustainable solutions.