The Agrivoltaics team is the recipient of the 2025 Dean’s Citation for Extraordinary Contributions to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Team members are Ajay Nair, Suzanne Slack and Jacie Legois, horticulture; Matt O'Neal and Randall Cass, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology; Anne Kimber, Liang Dong and Hugo Villegas, electrical and computer engineering; Hongli Feng, economics; John Tyndall, natural resource ecology and management; Kristine Tidgren and Raymond Klein, CALS; Steve Jonas, Tim Goode and Mark Wuebker, Iowa State Research Farms; and Samantha Dubert, Engineering Research Institute.
The multidisciplinary team of Iowa State researchers is studying the emerging concept of agrivoltaics – using solar power sites for agricultural purposes to make more efficient use of the land and create value for the communities where solar panels are located. Funded by a $1.8 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, the research is conducted a few miles south of Ames at the 10-acre Alliant Energy Solar Farm at Iowa State University.
The research project combines traditional and high-tech uses of the sun’s power by studying how to grow crops amid an array of solar panels. Team members raise bees and plant vegetables, fruits and pollinator habitat within the solar farm.
Farming on a solar farm raises numerous questions that need to be explored. For one, there’s little data on what plants may still thrive when growing between the solar panels, despite receiving partial shade, said Ajay Nair, horticulture chair and lead principal investigator. While fruit and vegetable crops typically need full sun, some shade might be a benefit as climate change leads to hotter summers. Identifying crops that grow in the modified microclimate without compromising yield and quality is critical.
There are also practical considerations and site management questions to iron out. For example, equipment used in food crop operations needs to fit between rows of panels. Alliant Energy has been enthusiastic about designing the facility to fit researchers’ needs, including panels of two varying heights – some with a fixed tilt and others with the flexibility to adjust the angle – to allow for more experimentation.
Above all, agrivoltaics won’t be possible unless it appeals to growers. Economists will calculate revenue streams from the crops grown at the solar farm to determine if operations can be profitable, and researchers are planning outreach efforts to farmers and nonprofits. The hope is that integrating direct local advantages with solar energy will increase support for such projects.