California Farmers are installing ‘Solar Farms’ on land with poor quality soil. Jon Reiter, an Almond farmer has already planted a considerable amount of solar panels and plans on growing his solar farm by five times. Because of California’s sustainable groundwater management act, Fany harmers have an excess of unused land perfect for solar energy. Using existing farm land prevents the damage of wildlife habitats. In addition solar energy may be more economical and sustainable than growing crops. In fact it is estimated that farmers will make a similar profit from from solar as almonds, which are an extremely water intensive crop.
This article was very insightful and opened my eyes to the opportunity for solar farms in california. This article showed how installing solar farms on land that is unusable for farming could be a sustainable way of creating energy. Not only would these farms be sustainable they would not be built on land that would endanger the wildlife habitat of many endangered california species. This is because much of the land in the california central valley was converted to farmland decades ago and it is no longer the home to these species. By building the farms here it eliminates the possibility of wildlife being put at risk. I think that by farmers planting these solar farms in the central valley it will serve as a precedent and more similar kinds of sustainable energy will begin to pop up.
I found this article to be very intriguing, and it opened my eyes to the possibility of ‘solar farming’. I think it’s really interesting that a farmer could make almost as much from solar farming than they would almond farming. In my mind that’s an easy decision to switch given the strain almond farming puts on the environment. Why do you think more farmers haven’t made the switch from traditional crops to solar ones?
I like your ideas and how you included information on more than one benefit from this system. I think this can really relate to environmental science because you addressed sustainability which is currently a huge issue.
This sounds like a great plan however, is it realistic? Solar panels are rather expensive and not every farm/farmer could afford such an expense. Even with an excess amount of land, not every farmer could cover the area with solar panels.
I agree with your views on the use of these lands as solar farms. It is good that they are turning them into carbon free energy sources and the solar the land under the panels could be planted with native grasses (maybe) and could offer a new habitat to some insects that would otherwise not have the added habitat.