(454c) Photovoltaic Aglectric Farming for Meeting Local Food, Energy,Water and Chemical Needs
AIChE Annual Meeting
2020
2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
Sustainable Engineering Forum
Advances in Clean Energy R&D (Invited Talks)
Monday, November 16, 2020 - 8:30am to 8:45am
A solar economy is a promising sustainable alternative to the current fossil fuel economy.
While solar energy is abundant, recent studies have shown that for many densely populated
countries, a solar economy could be severely land-constrained by the highly diffuse nature
of sunlight. To relax land constraints, we propose the concept of “aglectric†farming, where
solar irradiation on agricultural land will be sustainably shared for food and energy
coproduction. Adjusting the intensity, spectral distribution, and duration of shading allows
innovative photovoltaic (PV) systems to achieve significant power generation without
potentially diminishing agricultural output. The feasibility has been proved through shadow
modeling. Local photons have a potential to satisfy local needs of food, energy, water and
chemicals. The proposed PV aglectric farms have potential to prepare humanity for a
sustainable solar economy that supports the “Full Earth†of over 10 billion people.
While solar energy is abundant, recent studies have shown that for many densely populated
countries, a solar economy could be severely land-constrained by the highly diffuse nature
of sunlight. To relax land constraints, we propose the concept of “aglectric†farming, where
solar irradiation on agricultural land will be sustainably shared for food and energy
coproduction. Adjusting the intensity, spectral distribution, and duration of shading allows
innovative photovoltaic (PV) systems to achieve significant power generation without
potentially diminishing agricultural output. The feasibility has been proved through shadow
modeling. Local photons have a potential to satisfy local needs of food, energy, water and
chemicals. The proposed PV aglectric farms have potential to prepare humanity for a
sustainable solar economy that supports the “Full Earth†of over 10 billion people.