Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Abstract

Achieving decarbonization goals to address global climate change and increasing energy needs requires significant continued investments in solar energy. The expansion of utility-scale solar development across the globe has increased the pressure on land resources for energy generation and other land uses (e.g., agriculture, biodiversity conservation). To address this growing issue, greater emphasis has been placed on solar development strategies that maximize the benefits of solar energy generation and multiple ecosystem services, such as the development of agrivoltaics systems that co-locate solar energy production and various forms of conservation and agricultural land uses. The purpose of this paper is to systematically synthesize the potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics and summarize how these development strategies could address several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our review will focus on four broad potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics: (1) energy and economic benefits; (2) agricultural provisioning services of food production and animal husbandry; (3) biodiversity conservation; and (4) regulating ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water and soil conservation. In particular, we will highlight the state of the science, challenges, and knowledge gaps that represent opportunities for further study to better understand how solar energy deployment can facilitate sustainable development.

If you build it, will they come? Insect community responses to habitat establishment at solar energy facilities in Minnesota, USA

“…For example, siting future solar energy sites on marginal farmland and pairing these developments with solar-pollinator habitat could preserve prime farmland, improve the productivity of those remaining lands through pollination and pest control services supported by solar-pollinator habitat, and increase the site's ecosystem services potential (Walston et al 2021). In addition, other forms of agrivoltaics such as co-locating solar energy development with crop production or livestock grazing, can ensure that onsite agricultural practices continue which can help balance the nation's needs for food and energy production (Walston et al 2022).…”

“…Siting facilities to avoid environmentally sensitive areas is one of the most important ways to minimize the environmental impacts of solar energy development (Jager et al 2021) and dual use land use strategies can lessen the impact of developments in agricultural landscapes (Hernandez et al 2019). Dual land uses, such as the co-location of solar energy with agricultural activities ('agrivoltaics') and habitat restoration, take advantage of the solar facility's relatively large footprint to improve the site's land use efficiency and ecosystem services output (Barron-Gafford et al 2019, Walston et al 2022). One form of habitat restoration at solar sites, commonly referred to as 'solarpollinator habitat' , focuses on the establishment and maintenance of grasses and forbs among the solar panels which, if managed properly, can provide habitat for insects and other wildlife.…”

Enhancing community well-being in African drylands through technology-based solutions in the water–energy–food–ecosystems nexus

“…In some cases, it may even be mutually beneficial as vegetation evapotranspiration creates a cooler microclimate under the PV panels, which allows decreasing the panels' temperatures and increasing their performance and service life. [84][85][86][87] The experiments conducted by the Barron-Gafford research team have described the impact from the agrivoltaic system installed in the dryland of Arizona (USA) using this technology on some agricultural species adapted for dryland environments and proved that compared to conventional PV system conditions, PV panels were approximately 9 °C cooler during the day, which allows a 3% increase in the system performance. 86 Barron-Gafford et al 86 focused also on the eco-physical function and the biomass production of vegetation under AgriPV and proved that the total crop production has doubled compared to that of conventional agriculture.…”

“…Furthermore, AgriPVs provide essential ecosystem services related to agriculture such as producing foods and engaging in animal husbandry while ensuring water and soil conservation, carbon sequestration, crop protection and reduction of plant stress and biodiversity conservation. 82,87 Therefore, AgriPVs are considered as a sustainable solution that strengthens synergies between ecosystem services. Soilless technologies are also considered as environmentfriendly systems reducing arable land, generating low gas emissions, and generating a complete ecosystem between water and crops/fishes with developed synergies between the ecosystem's organisms, fish/plants and bacteria.…”

“…The impact of selected WEFE nexus solutions Cheo et al, 82 P. Santra et al, 84 G. A. Barron-Gafford et al, 86 L. J. Walston et al,87 Fraunhofer Institute,90 A. Ali Omer et al156 Pomoni et al, 98 E. O. Benjamin et al, 109 K. Tokunaga et al, 112 J. Dalsgaard et al, 158 H. El-Essawy et al, 159 G. Crini and E. Lichtfouse 160…”