Encore Renewable Energy was selected to showcase our agrivoltaics work as part of the Poster Reception at the RE+ Conference in Anaheim. Lauren Glickman, VP of Marketing and Amber Lessard, Director of Construction & Asset Management collaborated on a poster that illustrates the many opportunities presented by dual-land use solar, including pollinator friendly ground cover and solar grazing.
The poster received high scores from the conference team for its relevance to conference attendees and was selected for a featured poster talk during the conference. Lauren provided attendees with an overview of how agrivoltaics allow a given area to harvest the sun not once, but twice – as fuel for crops and as a source of renewable energy.
Other highlights from her talk:
- There was 612% increase in pollinator species during the first 2 years and 1174% increase for solar projects with pollinator friendly ground cover in 5 years
- Pollinator-friendly ground cover has proven to increase solar photovoltaics production and increase cost efficiency, as less money is spent on mowing
- Solar grazing reduces or eliminates the need for fossil fuel-powered equipment, like lawn mowers, reducing emissions and costs
- Preliminary research finds that implementing managed sheep grazing at solar projects significantly increases soil carbon storage and other nutrients important for plant production
The talk was featured in the Jamaica Gleaner which highlighted the complementary relationship between solar and agriculture. Read the full article here>
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