Sowing the seeds of a solar power intervention
The article explores the emergence of agrivoltaics (APV) in India, a practice where farmers simultaneously generate solar energy and cultivate crops on the same land. By using elevated solar panels, farmers like Kojadmal Jat in Rajasthan are increasing their annual income while maintaining food production, though high installation costs remain a barrier to widespread adoption.
Why it matters
Agrivoltaics offers a potential solution to the conflict between land use for renewable energy and food security, providing a model for sustainable rural development in arid regions.
Kojadmal Jat’s solar farm is different from those surrounding it. In Kundanpura, a village in Bassi block, nearly an hour’s drive east of Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital, the sight of fields dotted with rows of ground-mounted solar panels is now common. On 60-year-old Jat’s land, though, tender maize unfurls under the dark glass of the panels reflecting the afternoon light. The maize, in shades of pale yellow and green, fills a space that conventional solar farms leave barren.
Jat has been working with researchers of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) on an agrophotovoltaics (APV) project.
Also known as agrivoltaics or agriPV, this is a practice in which the same land is used for agriculture and solar power generation.
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