Solar energy is playing a critical role in mitigating the impact of global climate change. There are tremendous opportunities to create sustainability co-benefits at solar sites such as food production, carbon sequestration, pollinator habitats, and other ecosystem services in addition to renewable energy generation, thus creating vibrant, symbiotic communities that benefit from deep decarbonization efforts. However, current proposals for co-producing energy and agricultural products (broadly referred to as “agrivoltaics”) at solar sites are likely to result in increased costs, risks, and uncertainties to both solar developers and farmers, and eventually ratepayers. Cornell researchers will present their findings on microclimatic studies at solar farms to demonstrate the future relevancy of agrivoltaics in a changing climate and provide recommendations for sustainable solar farm development. Researchers aim to show the potential for agrivoltaics to play a major role in designing community-friendly solar farms and climate-resilient agriculture in the Northeastern United States.
Dr. Max Zhang is the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering at Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and currently serves as the Kathy Dwyer Marble and Curt Marble Faculty Director at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Dr. Zhang’s research areas reside on the nexus of energy and environmental system engineering, driven by social impact, focusing on air pollution mitigation, renewable energy planning, and building systems.
Henry Williams is a third-year PhD student in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Prof. K. Max Zhang’s Energy and the Environment Research Lab, where he leads a group of students in solar energy research evaluating the costs and benefits of agrivoltaics and ecosystem services in solar farms. Henry is also a member of the Green Technology Innovation Fellowship inaugural cohort in the SC Johnson School of Business and serves as a Graduate Resident Fellow in Flora Rose House.
Yipu Wang is a second-year MS student in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Prof. K. Max Zhang’s Energy and the Environment Research Lab. Yipu’s research projects include IoT-based microclimate monitoring networks on solar farms and simulation of shading/irradiance conditions for agrivoltaic systems.
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