Proudly Canadian
Proudly Canadian
Published: 15 hours ago
Crops, Livestock, opinion
People often react with derision the first time they hear about a technology that grates against their common sense.
Sometimes it’s a fair assessment. But in other cases, over time, creative uses are found for technology that has value. It’s just rarely the first use case that wins out.
I expect that’s how we’ll see agrivoltaics in a decade or two.
I doubt there will be combines harvesting corn in between rows of solar panels. They could be used in many other ways, however, as solar panels become cheaper and more flexible.
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Alberta’s Solar Sheep has expanded the sheep and types of livestock it manages under solar panels, as a contractor to power companies.
Many farmers bristle at the idea of covering good farmland with steel and silicon installations, and I agree.
However, solar panels are becoming increasingly affordable, and creative use cases are already diversifying their applications in farming systems.
Jesse Gill is solving a risk management problem on his British Columbia Double Barrell vineyard with solar panels as part of his solution.
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Gill and his partners are covering a portion of the vineyard with solar panels, after a couple of years of significant losses both from heat and from cold. The panels will be tiltable to create a microclimate to protect the grape vines from cold or hail. Curtains will also drop down to help maintain the microclimate.
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The investment is in the millions to cover the vineyard, but not only will it protect the vines and produce estimated higher yield, but it will also generate power as a bonus.
Gill was one of the speakers at the Feb. 13 Agrivoltaics Canada conference in Waterloo. He told me that he had to convince the B.C. Agricultural Land Reserve board that there was production and agronomic value to the solar panel project. The project was approved, which surprised some people, as industrial projects are usually not allowed in the reserve.
Solar grazing is another potential win for livestock farmers looking for pasture and solar power companies who have to invest more than they want to in mowing and weed management. This shouldn’t cover a huge number of acres, but it’s making good sense for some. See my story on page 26 about an Alberta farm growing by focusing on its skills in managing land and weeds — that just happen to be under solar panels.
New use cases will depend on where farmers can find an easy connection to the grid and also higher value prices for the power. There are many barriers based on grid capacity, connection costs and antipathy from power distributors.
There was more optimism at the Agrivoltaics Canada conference than in past years, as more use cases have been found there’s a better understanding of where investment can make sense.
Solar panels won’t cover that many spaces in rural Ontario, but they will continue to find places where producing power on farms will make sense.
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Senior Editor
John Greig is a senior editor with Glacier FarmMedia with responsibility for Technology, Livestock and Ontario. He lives on a farm near Ailsa Craig, Ontario. Contact John at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jgreig.
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