In the Southwest, solar panels can help both photovoltaics and crops

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“We obtained basilicas the size of your palm,” said the researcher at the Arizona University, Greg Barron-Gafford, describing some of the advantages that he and his team have seen agriculture under solar panels in the Tucson desert.

For 12 years, Barron-Gafford has been investigating agrivoltaics, the integration of solar networks in the working agricultural land. This practice implies the cultivation of crops or other vegetation, such as plants adapted to pollinators, in solar panels, and sometimes grazing in this greenery. Although a relatively new concept, at least 604 agrivoltaic sites appeared through the United States, according to Openei.

Researchers like Barron-Gafford think that in addition to producing carbon-free electricity, agrivoltaics could offer a radius of hope of agriculture in an increasingly hot and drier southern, because the shade created by these systems has been found to reduce irrigation needs and eliminate the thermal stress of crops. In addition, the cooling effects of growing plants under solar networks can actually improve panels.

But challenges remain, including the attitudes of certain farmers with regard to the practice and financing difficulties.

Overcome a climate enigma

While renewable electricity from sources such as solar panels is one of the most frequently tuned energy solutions to help reduce carbon pollution that stimulates climate change, the global warming itself makes it more difficult for solar tables to do their job, said Barron-Gafford. An optimal operating temperature for the panels is around 75 ° Fahrenheit, he explained. Beyond that, any increase in temperature reduces the effectiveness of photovoltaic cells.

“You can quickly see how this solution for our climate changing to more renewable energies is itself sensitive to the changing climate,” he said.

This problem is particularly relevant in the southwest, where historically hot temperatures increase regularly. Tucson, for example, saw a record of 112 days of three-digit heat in 2024, according to data from the National Weather Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States reports that each part of the Southwest experienced higher average temperatures between 2000 and 2023 compared to the long-term average from 1895 to 2023.