Farmers discover innovative new way their land can pull double duty: 'It doesn't have to look the way it did when your grandparents started farming'
Agrivoltaics is reshaping the agriculture industry, benefitting farmers and the planet.
According to The Appalachian Voice, agrivoltaics is when land is used for agriculture and solar farming. With solar panels raised off the ground, this brilliant system allows land to pull double duty.
For a long time, there has been tension between the agriculture and solar industries. Solar farms take up land that could be used for agriculture. In some situations, farmers were forced off their land to make room for solar, destroying their livelihood.
Agrivoltaics eliminates this problem. Farmers can keep farming, and solar panels can produce energy that doesn't contribute to pollution.
Burning dirty energy sources releases harmful carbon pollution, which raises the Earth's temperature and accelerates the changing climate. Solar energy is a green alternative, providing energy without pollution.
Not only can farmers continue to use the land for agriculture, but they can also make more money.
Cody Moore, a sheep-grazing farmer in Tennessee, explains, "If it weren't for these solar farms, there would be no way I could do this … There's just no other way."
He pointed out that combining the profits of solar with farming takes "some of the volatility out of the agricultural market." Agrivoltaic setups protect farmers' livelihoods while giving them a new, more stable source of income.
Solar companies, like EnergySage, benefit too. Farmers maintain the land, ensuring the panels aren't blocked by overgrown vegetation. Technically, the sheep and cattle take care of that with their snacking.
It's not just grazing sheep and cattle. Beekeeping farms, greenhouses, and crop farms can all operate with solar panels above them. The panels are raised high enough for plants to get all the sunshine they need.
If you were to install home solar panels, which of these factors would be your primary motivation?
Energy independence
Lower power bills
Helping the planet
No chance I ever go solar
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Agrivoltaics is a win for farmers, solar companies, and the whole planet. Even the land wins.
Jess Gray, the CEO of Gray's LAMBscaping, a solar grazing farm, told TAV: "I wish more people would recognize that dual-use solar is a fantastic idea because we're getting clean energy but also taking time and almost letting the field be fallow again."
The InSPIRE agrivoltaics map shows 599 sites across 64,689 acres of farmland, producing 10,310 megawatts of power. That's enough to power over one million homes. But there is plenty more land that could be used for agrivoltaics.
According to Silo, Texas, Montana, and Kansas have the most farmland, holding over 25% of all U.S. farmland. Texas has six agrivoltaics installations, Montana has two, and Kansas has zero. On the other hand, states like Minnesota and Massachusetts have dozens.
There are over 1.8 million U.S. farms across 876 million acres. If every farmer adopted agrivoltaics, it could theoretically power most or all U.S. homes.
Elon Musk has even said, "If you wanted to power the entire United States with solar panels, it would take a fairly small corner of Nevada or Texas or Utah … You only need about 100 miles by 100 miles (6.4 million acres)," per Inovateus.
Gray highlighted, "It's about getting people to understand that agriculture changes, and it's supposed to change … It doesn't have to look the way it did when your grandparents started farming."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
11 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Judge denies Zeigler's request for preliminary injunction trying to play 5th season
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge on Thursday denied Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler's request for a preliminary injunction allowing him to play a fifth season of Division I basketball in five years. U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer listened to arguments in a hearing June 6 in Knoxville and entered her denial Thursday morning. She wrote that Zeigler failed to demonstrate he would likely succeed on his argument that the NCAA keeping him from playing a fifth season of Division I basketball is a violation under the Sherman Act. 'This Court is a court of law, not policy,' Crytzer wrote in her order denying the injunction. 'What the NCAA should do as a policy matter to benefit student athletes is beyond the reach of the Sherman Act and TTPA and by extension, this Court.' The two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year asked for an injunction when he sued the NCAA on May 20 over its rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws. His lawsuit argues he could earn between $2 million and as much as $4 million with another season. The NCAA argued Monday that Zeigler's injunction request should be denied because he is asking the court to make him the first athlete in history to play a fifth season in Division I 'as a matter of right.' The judge asked Zeigler's attorneys to file a quick brief answering whether or not Zeigler is an 'intercollegiate athlete' as defined under state law and what legal standard applies to Zeigler's claim under the Tennessee Trade Practices Act.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Zakai Zeigler's preliminary injunction challenging NCAA redshirt rule for fifth year of eligibility denied
Several weeks after Zakai Zeigler filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking a fifth year of eligibility, his preliminary injunction has been denied, according to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. Zeigler had already played four seasons for Tennessee and didn't begin his college career until 2021, one year after the 2020-21 class that was allowed one more year of eligibility lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement In the lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District Court of Tennessee, Zeigler was looking to play the 2025-26 season, challenging the NCAA rule that an athlete has four years of eligibility within a five-year window. Zeigler, 22, isn't allowed an opportunity to earn NIL money for a fifth year because he used up all of his eligibility. As the lawsuit argues, that deprives him of a fifth year, "the most lucrative year of the eligibility window for the vast majority of athletes." How lucrative? The lawsuit argued that Zeigler could earn between $2 million and $4 million in a fifth year based on his record of success and visibility playing in the SEC. Those figures are projections from the Spyre Sports Group, which facilitates Tennessee's NIL collective. Advertisement Athletes who receive a redshirt are allowed a fifth year of eligibility, which gives them one more year to earn NIL income. A freshman who was redshirted, for example, would still be able to earn NIL money even if he or she doesn't play. As the filing, the documents of which were posted online by Boise State professor Sam Ehrlich, reads: "Many players, however, do compete in the fifth year of their eligibility window. And they can earn NIL compensation for all five of those years. Had Zeigler been withheld from competing in sports during one of those four years, perhaps by redshirting, the NCAA rules would permit him to participate again next year. And this is true even if he would have slowed his academic progress and taken five years to graduate." Zeigler graduated in May, majoring in retail and merchandising management. This is different from the lawsuit Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia filed against the NCAA, claiming that he should be allowed a fifth year of eligibility because he played his first two years for New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college. In December, Pavia was granted an injunction allowing him to play the 2025 college football season. Advertisement Last season with the Vols, the 5-foot-9 Zeigler averaged 13.6 points, 7.4 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 32% on 122 3-point attempts. He was named a third-team All-American, and won first-team All-SEC and SEC defensive player of the year honors for two consecutive seasons. The Volunteers finished 30-8, 12-6 in the SEC, and advanced to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight before losing to Houston. Zeigler holds the Tennessee single-season (275) and career (747) records for assists, and career steals with 251.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Zakai Zeigler's prelimiary injunction challenging NCAA redshirt rule for fifth year of eligibility denied
Several weeks after Zakai Zeigler filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking a fifth year of eligibility, his preliminary injunction has been denied, according to Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. Zeigler had already played four seasons for Tennessee and didn't begin his college career until 2021, one year after the 2020-21 class that was allowed one more year of eligibility lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement In the lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District Court of Tennessee, Zeigler was looking to play the 2025-26 season, challenging the NCAA rule that an athlete has four years of eligibility within a five-year window. Zeigler, 22, isn't allowed an opportunity to earn NIL money for a fifth year because he used up all of his eligibility. As the lawsuit argues, that deprives him of a fifth year, "the most lucrative year of the eligibility window for the vast majority of athletes." How lucrative? The lawsuit argued that Zeigler could earn between $2 million and $4 million in a fifth year based on his record of success and visibility playing in the SEC. Those figures are projections from the Spyre Sports Group, which facilitates Tennessee's NIL collective. Advertisement Athletes who receive a redshirt are allowed a fifth year of eligibility, which gives them one more year to earn NIL income. A freshman who was redshirted, for example, would still be able to earn NIL money even if he or she doesn't play. As the filing, the documents of which were posted online by Boise State professor Sam Ehrlich, reads: "Many players, however, do compete in the fifth year of their eligibility window. And they can earn NIL compensation for all five of those years. Had Zeigler been withheld from competing in sports during one of those four years, perhaps by redshirting, the NCAA rules would permit him to participate again next year. And this is true even if he would have slowed his academic progress and taken five years to graduate." Zeigler graduated in May, majoring in retail and merchandising management. This is different from the lawsuit Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia filed against the NCAA, claiming that he should be allowed a fifth year of eligibility because he played his first two years for New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college. In December, Pavia was granted an injunction allowing him to play the 2025 college football season. Advertisement Last season with the Vols, the 5-foot-9 Zeigler averaged 13.6 points, 7.4 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 32% on 122 3-point attempts. He was named a third-team All-American, and won first-team All-SEC and SEC defensive player of the year honors for two consecutive seasons. The Volunteers finished 30-8, 12-6 in the SEC, and advanced to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight before losing to Houston. Zeigler holds the Tennessee single-season (275) and career (747) records for assists, and career steals with 251.
