French Solar Panels For Agriculture Soil Hope Grass

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.

French solar panels for agriculture soil hope grass.

The solar projects protect the soil if the farmers want to turn it back into farmland later. Nearby beekeepers check on the health of local hives. Co locating agriculture with solar. 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.

But diverse groundcovers and native grasses with varying soil depths will help stabilize the soil underneath solar panels. They keep the weeds and grass trimmed down in the hard to reach places between and under the solar panels. 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. Gravel and turf grass can create an impervious surface that can increase runoff wash away topsoil and create unwanted flooding or gullies.

Higgins and co author elnaz hassanpour adeh had previously published research showing that solar panels increase agricultural production on dry unirrigated farmland. 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. Increasing the value of that land for agriculture in the future. Giving soil rest can also maintain soil quality.

The bare ground beneath solar panels near boulder has been planted with grasses and mulched in a test to soften the appearance restore native habitat and protect soil from erosion. And then there are the multiple benefits of allowing natural grazers such as sheep and goats onto the land around the panels. Photo by merrill smith. 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. Many solar panels are supported by galvanized steel platforms. That steel oxidizes over time and releases zinc into the soil which can be toxic to plants at certain levels.