Location: Range Management Research
Project Number: 3050-41000-011-001-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2023
End Date: Dec 31, 2027
Objective:
Co-design experiments and conduct data collection in rangeland and cropland agricultural systems to compare the costs and benefits of alternative agrivoltaics designs with respect to multiple indicators.
Approach:
This agreement will leverage agrivoltaics infrastructure capabilities of New Mexico State University and ARS scientific personnel to investigate strategies and technologies for deployment, operation, and decommissioning of alternative agrivoltaics systems in New Mexico and the arid Southwest to maximize agricultural, ecological, and economic co-benefits. The collaborative project will involve one cropland and one rangeland experimental site on NMSU-owned land, establishment of one or more agrivoltaic arrays within each site, and data collection on agricultural indicators related to crop or rangeland production and other ecosystem services within agrivoltaic arrays in comparison with non-agrivoltaic controls or other agrivoltaic array designs.
