Agrivoltaics

New Zealand is known for its strong agricultural sector and in recent years has demonstrated a growing commitment to renewable energy, particularly solar. This provides a potential opportunity to combine the two on the same land, which is called agrivoltaics.  The integration of solar panels with productive farmland offers a way to generate clean energy that can be used on farm or sold back to the grid while continuing to farm.  This has the potential to reduce electricity costs, provide a complementary revenue stream, and provide other benefits like shade and shelter for crops and livestock. In addition, agrivoltaics offers the potential to preserve the food production potential of solar farm sites. Agrivoltaics is focused on the design and management of land to optimise both agriculture and solar energy generation outcomes.  The best solution for each site will be determined by the specific site attributes and the goals of the landowner/farmer.  Solar-grazing typically refers to the grazing of sheep on medium to large scale solar farms for vegetation management.  Agrivoltaics and solar-grazing are a specialty area of interest for Anna Vaughan Consulting.