by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 10.21.09

From a 25-megawatt photovoltaic plant in Florida to a 4,500 acre solar thermal installation in California, solar just keeps getting bigger. Within that context, a 100kw array may seem hardly worth mentioning, but folks in my community are excited, and not without reason. (Disclaimer alert: Friends of mine are involved with this project.)You see traditionally, unlike wind, large-scale solar has often meant displacing otherwise productive land, to the point where some areas like Ontario are looking at banning solar from class “a” and class “b” farmland. What sets this project apart is that it aims to not just co-exist with productive farm land, but actually enhance the agricultural process.

Article continues: Solar and Agriculture: Double Cropping Energy and Food