French Solar Panels For Agriculture Soil Hope Grass

Natural grazing practices encourage grass to grow increase soil health and also avoids mowing.

French solar panels for agriculture soil hope grass.

Combining solar power generation and agriculture offers not only a solution to securing land for pv projects in nations such as the netherlands or japan where soil consumption is becoming an. Photo by merrill smith. Their research is part of an ongoing study to quantify the benefits of a new approach to solar installations. High rates of herbicides frequent mowing and the use of mulches rock or plastic will all have negative impacts on the land from herbicide residues soil compaction and erosion and particles of damaged panels left in the soil resulting in contamination from heavy metals and rare earth elements used in solar panels.

Higgins and co author elnaz hassanpour adeh had previously published research showing that solar panels increase agricultural production on dry unirrigated farmland. They found that the grasses growing in shaded areas under the solar panels were 328 more water efficient and maintained higher soil moisture throughout the heat of summer. And then there are the multiple benefits of allowing natural grazers such as sheep and goats onto the land around the panels. Nearby beekeepers check on the health of local hives.

Many solar panels are supported by galvanized steel platforms. Giving soil rest can also maintain soil quality. Others press double forked meters into the ground measuring the soil moisture below the solar panels and in open ground. A trial study in southern france has demonstrated that by reducing the density of the solar panels by half it was still possible to grow lettuces on the land underneath them.

Co locating agriculture with solar. The solar projects protect the soil if the farmers want to turn it back into farmland later. They keep the weeds and grass trimmed down in the hard to reach places between and under the solar panels. Increasing the value of that land for agriculture in the future.

That has been documented in cases where other types of galvanized steel structures were removed and crops didn t grow or didn t fare well heiniger said. But diverse groundcovers and native grasses with varying soil depths will help stabilize the soil underneath solar panels. Most solar panels have a glass front that protects the pv cell and an aluminum or steel frame.