RabbitsFenced5.jpg
FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Source data
Type Paper
Location Michigan, USA
Cite as Citation reference for the source document. William Lytle, Theresa K. Meyer, Nagendra G. Tanikella, Laurie Burnham, Julie Engel, Chelsea Schelly, Joshua M. Pearce.Conceptual Design and Rationale for a New Agrivoltaics Concept: Pasture-Raised Rabbits and Solar Farming. Journal of Cleaner Production, 282 (2021) 124476 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124476 open access

Land-use conflicts created by the growth of solar photovoltaics (PV) can be mitigated by applying the concept of agrivoltaics, that is, the co-development of land for both PV and agricultural purposes, to commercial-scale solar installations. In this study, we present a conceptual design for a novel agrivoltaic system based on pasture-fed rabbit farming and provide the technical, environmental and economic analyses to demonstrate the viability of the concept. Included in our analysis are the economic advantages to the PV operator of grazing rabbits at a density sufficient to control vegetative growth, thus reducing the economic and environmental costs of mowing; the dual-revenue stream from the sale of both rabbits and electricity, contrasted with estimates of the capital-investment costs for rabbits co-located with, and also independent of, PV; and the economic value to the rabbit farmer of higher colony-growth rates (made possible by the shading and predator protection provided by the PV arrays and of reduced fencing costs, which are the largest capital cost, by being able to leverage the PV systems for rabbit fencing. We also provide an environmental analysis that suggests that rabbit-PV farming is a pathway to a measurable reduction in agriculturally-generated greenhouse-gas emissions. Our calculations indicate that the co-location of solar and rabbit farms is a viable form of agrivoltaics, increasing overall site revenue by 2.5%-24.0% above projected electricity revenue depending on location and rental/ownership of rabbits, while providing a high-value agricultural product that, on a per weight basis, has significantly less environmental impact than cattle.

Highlights[edit | edit source]

  • Agrivoltaics avoids land-use conflicts between photovoltaics (PV) and agriculture.
  • Developed novel pasture-fed rabbit farming for agrivoltaics.
  • Rabbits cut O&M costs by grazing.
  • Location dependent rabbits increase revenue 2.5-24% from ownership/land rental fees.

External resources for agrivoltaics[edit | edit source]

mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
"A False Narrative": Big Coal's War on Clean Energy and Solar in Ag

See also[edit | edit source]

The Western Innovation for Renewable Energy (WIRED) system is currently under construction to test out new open source methods to reduce PV systems costs and enable novel forms of agrivoltaics including the world's first agrivoltaic agrotunnel.

Services provided by agrivoltaics are: renewable electricity generation, decreased green-house gas emissions, reduced climate change, increased crop yield, plant protection from excess solar energy, plant protection from inclement weather such as hail, water conservation, agricultural employment, local food, improved health from pollution reduction increased revenue for farmers, a hedge against inflation, the potential to produce nitrogen fertilizer on farm, on farm production of renewable fuels such as anhydrous ammonia or hydrogen, and electricity for EV charging for on- or off-farm use.
Agrivoltaics Canada - What is Agrivoltaics
mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg
mqdefault.jpgYouTube_icon.svg

In the News[edit source]

  1. Agrivoltaics: solar energy + better crops Climate and Nature
  2. Why solar power and farmers’ fields could be the perfect combination TVO
  3. Solar farms and sheep show the makings of a clean energy classic duo Business Renewables
  4. Agrivoltaics charge up St. Albert-area farms St Albert Gazette
  5. Sheep, solar and crops. How some Alberta farms are creating ideal growing conditions Western Wheel
  6. Sheep, solar and crops. How some Alberta farms create ideal growing conditions Voxpopuli
  7. 3D printed clamps for front-surface PV mounting on wood racking PV Magazine
  8. Harvesting the Sun to Grow in the Shade Garden Culture Magazine
  9. What crops fit with vertical agrivoltaics? PV Magazine
  10. Agrivoltaics – Keeping the farm in the solar farm Green Energy Futures
  11. Booming solar industry has a growing appetite for weed-chomping crews CBC
    1. La floreciente industria solar tiene un creciente apetito por equipos de devoradores de maleza Espanol news
    2. Des cochons à l’ombre des panneaux solaires, l’agrivoltaïsme gagne en popularité Radio Canada
    3. Pigs in the shade of solar panels, agrivoltaics gains popularity Euro Day France
    4. Des porcs à l’ombre des panneaux solaires, l’agrivoltaïque gagne en popularité News Day France
    5. ICI Radio
    6. The Weather Network
  12. Agrowoltaika zyskuje na wartości. Panele słoneczne na polu nie przekreślają upraw Business Insider Poland
  13. Kanada/ Coraz popularniejsza agrowoltaika: rolnictwo i produkcja energii w jednym Deon Pl
  14. Tu zboże, tam fotowoltaika. Rolnicy produkują i żywność i energię na jednym polu Bankier PL
  15. Kanada: coraz popularniejsza agrowoltaika: rolnictwo i produkcja energii w jednym MSN PL
  16. Agrowoltaika podbija świat (Agrovoltaics is conquering the world ) Warzywnichtow Polish
  17. Coraz popularniejsza agrowoltaika - rolnictwo i produkcja energii w jednym Agro Polska
  18. Agriculture and Energy Future - Agrivoltaics Agritecture
  19. MBA students examine a solar farm’s benefits for critical issues case competition Ivey
  20. Ontario solar curbs rankle expert BNN Bloomberg
  21. Kanada: coraz popularniejsza agrowoltaika: rolnictwo i produkcja energii w jednym MSN Poland
FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords most completed projects and publications, agrivoltaic, agriculture, photovoltaic, farming, joint production, solar farm, economics, rabbit farming, land use, food-energy-water nexus, sustainable agriculture, energy
SDG SDG07 Affordable and clean energy
Authors William Lytle, Theresa K. Meyer, Nagendra G. Tanikella, Laurie Burnham, Julie Engel, Chelsea Schelly, Joshua M. Pearce
License CC-BY-SA-4.0
Organizations MOST
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 0 pages link here
Aliases Conceptual Design and Rationale for a New Agrivoltaics Concept: Pastured-Raised Rabbits and Solar Farming
Impact 109 page views (more)
Created October 8, 2020 by Joshua M. Pearce
Last modified January 29, 2024 by Felipe Schenone
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.