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Operating costs account for a disproportionately big amount of a company's annual expenses. This is especially true for agricultural businesses. Electricity expenses, crop production, and maintenance costs, and water utilities are all major considerations for both small and large-scale agricultural producers
Fremont, CA: Commercial agricultural organizations increasingly use solar technology to increase financial sustainability. Agricultural enterprises have several specific operational costs, and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are becoming increasingly helpful for farmers, agriculture packaging/distribution companies, and other agricultural-related organizations.
Key Advantages of Solar PV for the Agriculture Sector
Operating costs account for a disproportionately big amount of a company's annual expenses. This is especially true for agricultural businesses. Electricity expenses, crop production, maintenance costs, and water utilities are major considerations for small and large-scale agricultural producers. These costs can be drastically lowered by using solar technology systems, which can be simply installed on most project locations. Solar PV systems add value to a farm's infrastructure by lowering utility costs such as energy and water bills and increasing agricultural output and streamlining management.
Another issue that many farmers face is the lack of different cash streams. Virtual aggregate net metering, which allows one or more customers to disperse excess energy to nearby areas where it is needed and SREC marketplaces, can assist solar projects to diversify these revenue streams.
The rising research and application of agrivoltaics, the process of growing crops under partially transparent solar panels, is one of the most promising breakthroughs for employing solar PV systems on agricultural lands. Potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes grow exceptionally well under solar panels, and pollinator farms are particularly ideal prospects for agrivoltaic systems. Recent studies' findings point to promising advancements in solar technologies designed specifically for farms. While water usage did not appear to diminish, the fact that crop production increased while water usage remained constant offers some intriguing insights into how water utilities can be the same while generating much higher crop revenue.
