Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Walston, Leroy J.; Barley, Tristan; Bhandari, Indraneel; Campbell, Ben; McCall, James; Hartmann, Heidi M.; Dolezal, Adam G.

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2022.932018

Title: Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Journal Article · Fri Sep 16 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Frontiers in sustainable food systems

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.932018· OSTI ID:1890118

Walston, Leroy J. ^[1]; Barley, Tristan ^[2]; Bhandari, Indraneel ^[3]; Campbell, Ben ^[3];

^[4]; Hartmann, Heidi M. ^[1]; Dolezal, Adam G. ^[2]

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). Strategic Energy Analysis Center

Achieving decarbonization goals to address global climate change and increasing energy needs requires significant continued investments in solar energy. The expansion of utility-scale solar development across the globe has increased the pressure on land resources for energy generation and other land uses (e.g., agriculture, biodiversity conservation). To address this growing issue, greater emphasis has been placed on solar development strategies that maximize the benefits of solar energy generation and multiple ecosystem services, such as the development of agrivoltaics systems that co-locate solar energy production and various forms of conservation and agricultural land uses. The purpose of this paper is to systematically synthesize the potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics and summarize how these development strategies could address several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our review will focus on four broad potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics: (1) energy and economic benefits; (2) agricultural provisioning services of food production and animal husbandry; (3) biodiversity conservation; and (4) regulating ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water and soil conservation. In particular, we will highlight the state of the science, challenges, and knowledge gaps that represent opportunities for further study to better understand how solar energy deployment can facilitate sustainable development.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AC36-08GO28308; EE00038642; EE0009371

OSTI ID:: 1890118

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1900010

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-6A20-83997; 175166

Journal Information:: Frontiers in sustainable food systems, Vol. 6; ISSN 2571-581X

Publisher:: FrontiersCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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climate change mitigation
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Title: Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

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