Photo: Students examine spinach plants growing under different solar panels. | University of Alberta
Imagine growing greens in your backyard under a solar panel, and then juicing them in a blender powered by the same panel. “By having agrivoltaics in urban settings, people can experience what it’s like to be able to produce both food and electricity,” says Guillermo Hernandez Ramirez of the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. Two researchers are growing spinach under different solar panels in a growth chamber and measuring how the process affects both plant growth and the electrical output of the panels. They hope to produce a how-to guide for the public as a useful example of how agrivoltaics could be optimized to Edmonton’s weather conditions.
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