agrivoltaics

Lyndsey Smith, co-owner of the Shady Creek Lamb Company in Ontario, joined our podcast to share her pioneering story of merging their sheep farm with a local solar farm, creating a symbiotic relationship between electricity generation and agriculture. This extraordinary alliance has yielded numerous incredible benefits for both parties involved, and no doubt, has made the sheep much happier!

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This episode is a conversation between NCAT Energy Program Director Stacie Peterson and Alexis Pascaris, executive director of AgriSolar Consulting.

It is the fifth in a series of AgriSolar Clearinghouse podcasts that are being featured on ATTRA’S Voices from the Field podcast. 

Alexis is a consultant and a stakeholder in the AgriSolar Clearinghouse. She and Stacie discuss the social aspects of agrisolar, including the concept of energy as a social matter with technological components, the importance of the cultural landscapes around agrisolar operations, and the “social license” to operate them. Alexis and Stacie also address the stacked benefits of agrisolar itself and agrisolar projects around the country.

Related NCAT Resources:
 
 ·        AgriSolar Clearinghouse

·        Agrisolar Policy Guide

·        AgriSolar Podcasts Ep. 1: Growing Crops Among the Solar Panels in Colorado

·        AgriSolar Podcasts Ep. 2: Keeping Family Farms in Family Hands with AgriSolar in Massachusetts

·        AgriSolar Podcast Ep. 3: Lexie Hain — Sheep and Solar a Match

·        AgriSolar Podcast Ep. 4: Birds, Bees, and Butterflies – Solar Pollinator Habitat

·        Case Study: Summit Plant Labs

Other Resources:

·        AgriSolar Consulting

·        Do Agrivoltaics Improve Public Support for Solar? A Survey on Perceptions, Preferences, and Priorities

·        Smart Solar in Connecticut: Farmer Survey Findings and Initial Recommendations

·        Building a Resilient Future: Connecticut’s Smart Solar Opportunities

·        SCAPES

·        SPADE Agrivoltaic Design and Development 

Contact Stacie Peterson at stacieb@ncat.org.  

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office Award Number DE-EE000937. Legal Disclaimer: The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.  

This special edition of Voices from the Field takes a look back at some highlights from the podcast during 2022. It was a great year for Voices from the Field, with 50 interesting conversations and loads of practical information running the gamut of sustainable-agriculture topics. 

We’re honored that Voices from the Field has become a trusted source of information about sustainable agriculture and renewable energy since it began more than five years ago, with thousands of subscribers adding it to their weekly downloads. 

Featured Podcasts: 

·         Episode 258. Everything Old is New Again, Exploring Indigenous and Traditional Agriculture Methods, Part 1 

·         Episode 259. Everything Old is New Again, Exploring Indigenous and Traditional Agriculture Methods, Part 2 

NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan take a look at the traditional family agricultural methods that were passed down to them, and how they parallel indigenous practices. 

Contact Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan at feliciab@ncat.org and justind@ncat.org. 
 

·         Episode 267. How Farmers Markets Do More than Sell Local Goods 

NCAT Director of Communications Emilie Ritter and NCAT Community Food Systems Specialist Maura Henn talk about the sometimes unexpected beneficial impacts of famers markets. 

Contact Emilie Ritter and Maura Henn at emilier@ncat.org and maurah@ncat.org. 
 

·         Episode 271. Farmer Veteran Finds Passion in Horticulture Therapy 

NCAT ATTRA Program Director Margo Hale talks with Charley Jordan, a military veteran and flower farmer in Tennessee, about how he came to begin a flower-growing operation and his passion for horticulture therapy and using agriculture as a tool to help others heal. 

Contact Margo Hale at margoh@ncat.org.
 

·         AgriSolar Podcasts Ep. 1: Growing Crops Among the Solar Panels in Colorado 

NCAT Energy Program Director Stacie Peterson has a conversation with Meg Caley, Executive Director and co-founder of Colorado nonprofit Sprout City Farms. Among its partnerships, Sprout City Farms works with Jack’s Solar Garden in Longmont, Colorado, growing crops in the spaces between solar panels at the site, which is now the largest agrivoltaic research facility of its kind in the United States. 

Contact Stacie Peterson at staciep@ncat.org.  

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT.ORG.  

In this episode Daniel and Nate discuss Nate's experience at the Tennessee Local Food Summit. Jeff Poppen aka "The Barefoot Gardener" started the local food summit  for local and organic growers to come together annually and share stories and resources to further the cause. Tennessee is loosing gardens, farms, and land under production at an alarming rate. It's heartbreaking to see developers wreck the creation with greedy, shortsighted, ugly, and cheap construction that creates a domino effect of short term and long term negative consequences. So, how can we reimagine how to use land in a way where humans have a beautiful, efficient, and sustainable space to live in. How do we create really high density housing that is still surrounded by green and living spaces? Here's our thoughts.  

In the early days of solar development, we built solar farms and then locked the gate and walked away, completely missing the opportunity to the use the land under the panels for a productive, long-term purpose.

Enter agrivoltaics or dual-use solar, a technique where solar farms are built to allow for grazing or growing crops, creating a win-win situation for the farmer, the solar developer and the community at large.

Michael Marsch is Chief Development Officer at BlueWave Solar, a DG-scale regional solar developer and thought leader in the realm of agrivoltaics. Mike joined BlueWave in 2013, building and managing its Solar Project Development and Construction Team as the startup grew into a nationally-recognized impact company.

Prior to BlueWave, Mike was a traditional real estate developer in Southern California, serving as Principal at Beckett Holdings, Development Associate with The Ratkovich Company and Portfolio Manager at Briarwood Capital, 

On this episode of Clean Power Hour, Mike joins Tim to discuss the advantages of agrivoltaics, describing the synergies between active agricultural land use and solar development.

Mike addresses the partnership between Axium and BlueWave, explaining how the two organizations align around energy justice and how Mike’s team is using the capital to build clean energy infrastructure at scale.

 Listen in for insight on diversifying the workforce in the solar industry and learn how Mike thinks about communicating the benefits of agrivoltaics, community solar and battery storage. 

Key Takeaways

What inspired Mike’s transition from conventional real estate to mission-driven solar developer

BlueWave’s role as a DG-scale regional solar developer

What inspired the partnership between BlueWave and Axium and their alignment around energy justice

BlueWave’s thought leadership in the realm of agrivoltaics or dual-use solar

The opportunity to use the land under solar panels for grazing and growing crops

How BlueWave is working to get community solar in low- and moderate-income communities

How a capital partner like Axium allows BlueWave to build clean energy infrastructure at scale

Why it’s crucial for solar developers to do community outreach and be responsible in how we use land

How BlueWave leans on the InSPIRE Working Group, J

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The National Center for Appropriate Technology has launched America’s first AgriSolar Clearinghouse to connect farmers, ranchers, land managers, solar developers, and researchers with trusted, practical information to increase the co-location of solar and agriculture.

In less than a decade, solar installations are expected to cover more than 3 million acres of the United States, creating a big opportunity to pair solar with agricultural land to produce food, conserve ecosystems, create renewable energy, increase pollinator habitat, and maximize farm revenue.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Communications Director Emilie Ritter Saunders speaks with Energy Programs Director Stacie Peterson, Phd., about how the AgriSolar Clearinghouse aims to make solar more accessible to land managers looking to make the most out of their land, diversify their revenue, and produce renewable energy.

Visit the new resource at AGRISOLARCLEARINGHOUSE.ORG

Related ATTRA Resources:

• AgriSolar Clearinghouse
• Sheep and the Sun: Solar Grazing with Lexie Hain

Contact Stacie Peterson and Emilie Ritter Saunders via email at staciep@ncat.org and emilies@ncat.org

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at askanag@ncat.org. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

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We caught up with Ben Wynn, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Wynergy, a Tamworth-based solar energy startup, on a mission to transform Australia's solar power industry with its unique agrivoltaic design.

With the innovative design, farmers will be able to run livestock and plant pastures in and around their solar panels. It's a partnership between solar companies and farmers that helps to solve the land use conflict by allowing both industries to co-exist.