ISU professor talks about agriculture and solar energy at Mason City Chamber Ag Breakfast

MASON CITY — The chair of the Iowa State University Department of Horticulture was one of the featured speakers at the Mason City Chamber of Commerce Ag Breakfast on Thursday, talking about the research that’s being done at the Alliant Energy Solar Farm at ISU. The project involves a collaboration among Iowa State researchers to study how well fruits, vegetables and various pollinator mixed & flowers can be grown beneath and between the rows of solar panels at the site.

Ajay Nair says the project is studying the practice of using land for agricultural and solar energy production known as agrivoltaics. “Whether it is feasible for these two enterprises, which is the solar power production and agriculture, to coexist. This project is a four-year project. We have completed one year and we had several Extension opportunities and outreach events where we invited growers to take a look. This is more of a feasibility study of that coexistence.”

Nair says while it’s a new and innovative practice in this part of the country, this is a good opportunity to see if agrivoltaics will have a place in Iowa’s agricultural future.  “If in the future the solar establishments are constructed around population, the people in there need food. Can we now use the space between these panels to grow food and support the local food market there. So that’s another way to look at it, because there are many successful growers in Iowa who grow in open-field conditions, they do a fantastic job, but this is more of a niche, and also an advantage, and how can we leverage the benefits that both of these industries provide, energy production and food production.”

The project received a $1.8 million grant from the US Department of Energy.