Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming
ABSTRACT The global push toward renewable energy systems has prompted a desire to more efficiently use land through the co‐location of agricultural and industrial activities. Agrivoltaic systems (AV), crops grown underneath/adjacent to solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, present a unique value propositi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Food and Energy Security |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.70110 |
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| author | Juli Burden Tai McClellan Maaz Makena Coffman Ngonidzashe Chirinda Sunday A. Leonard Michael Kantar |
| author_facet | Juli Burden Tai McClellan Maaz Makena Coffman Ngonidzashe Chirinda Sunday A. Leonard Michael Kantar |
| author_sort | Juli Burden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT The global push toward renewable energy systems has prompted a desire to more efficiently use land through the co‐location of agricultural and industrial activities. Agrivoltaic systems (AV), crops grown underneath/adjacent to solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, present a unique value proposition to produce food and energy in a single location. Here, we conducted a field trial within a PV site, empirically testing AV methods using small‐scale sustainable farming practices in a peri‐urban landscape in Hawaiʻi. By mimicking commercial production conditions, we identified the most profitable lettuce genotype (e.g., Magenta) and created an enterprise budget to generate realistic financial expectations for those (company, municipality, university) aiming to create energy‐generating foodscapes. These empirical data generated in a commercial setting can be used as valuable inputs for future planning work in a range of different geographies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-04f9a7a3b0ac4c45b4310843e8d2a956 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2048-3694 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Food and Energy Security |
| spelling | doaj-art-04f9a7a3b0ac4c45b4310843e8d2a9562025-08-25T13:30:39ZengWileyFood and Energy Security2048-36942025-07-01144n/an/a10.1002/fes3.70110Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale FarmingJuli Burden0Tai McClellan Maaz1Makena Coffman2Ngonidzashe Chirinda3Sunday A. Leonard4Michael Kantar5Hawaiʻi Agriculture Research Center Waipahu Hawaii USADepartment of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Honolulu Hawaii USAInstitute for Sustainability and Resilience, Department of Urban and Regional Planning University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Honolulu Hawaii USACollege of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Innovation and Technology Transfer Center (AITTC) Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) Ben Guerir MoroccoScientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility United Nations Environment Program Northwest Washington Washington, DC USADepartment of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Honolulu Hawaii USAABSTRACT The global push toward renewable energy systems has prompted a desire to more efficiently use land through the co‐location of agricultural and industrial activities. Agrivoltaic systems (AV), crops grown underneath/adjacent to solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, present a unique value proposition to produce food and energy in a single location. Here, we conducted a field trial within a PV site, empirically testing AV methods using small‐scale sustainable farming practices in a peri‐urban landscape in Hawaiʻi. By mimicking commercial production conditions, we identified the most profitable lettuce genotype (e.g., Magenta) and created an enterprise budget to generate realistic financial expectations for those (company, municipality, university) aiming to create energy‐generating foodscapes. These empirical data generated in a commercial setting can be used as valuable inputs for future planning work in a range of different geographies.https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.70110energy‐water‐food nexusenterprise budgetmulti‐functionalitysmall‐scale |
| spellingShingle | Juli Burden Tai McClellan Maaz Makena Coffman Ngonidzashe Chirinda Sunday A. Leonard Michael Kantar Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming Food and Energy Security energy‐water‐food nexus enterprise budget multi‐functionality small‐scale |
| title | Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming |
| title_full | Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming |
| title_fullStr | Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming |
| title_short | Economic Feasibility of Agrivoltaic Systems for Sustainable Small Scale Farming |
| title_sort | economic feasibility of agrivoltaic systems for sustainable small scale farming |
| topic | energy‐water‐food nexus enterprise budget multi‐functionality small‐scale |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.70110 |
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