July 01, 2024 —
Solar panels at Zufall Farm in St. Lawrence County. Photo: Catherine Wheeler
Large-scale photo voltaic panel installations are going up within the North Country as a part of New York’s bold effort to scale back our influence on local weather change. Some individuals fear that these photo voltaic arrays are displacing farmland, however a brand new state grant for agrivoltaic initiatives might assist.
Agrivoltaics is the observe of utilizing land for agriculture and photo voltaic manufacturing. This could possibly be an essential a part of how New York meets its inexperienced vitality objectives whereas defending agriculture in locations just like the North Country.
NYSERDA, New York’s clear vitality company, lately introduced a 5-million greenback improve in funding for agricultural initiatives. Farmers, researchers, photo voltaic firms, non-profits, and even native governments can apply and obtain as much as $750,000 per challenge.
Jeremy Magliaro of NYSERDA mentioned the grant program solely pays for the manufacturing of photo voltaic panels appropriate with farming, not the precise photo voltaic panels themselves.
“If you wish to improve the peak of your photo voltaic panels on part of your challenge by 4 toes to accommodate cattle grazing or a selected piece of agricultural gear, this cash could be certified.”
Magliaro mentioned that the most typical agrivoltaic observe in New York is sheep grazing. There will not be a lot info accessible if farmers wish to attempt one thing else.
Magliaro mentioned that is one of many causes NYSERDA prioritizes initiatives that do not contain sheep grazing, and makes use of them to gather knowledge.
“The knowledge collected from these demonstration initiatives will likely be shared with all stakeholders together with native and state legislators and regulatory companies to advance our collective understanding of agricultural practices.”
He mentioned the last word objective of the analysis is to make sure that all farmers have the knowledge and help they should make agrivoltaics potential on their land.
Applications for funding are accepted till September 12.