Agri Kultuur July / Julie 2016 | Page 13

and ecosystems. This understanding becomes even more compelling when applied to areas that are very sunny and that may also suffer water shortages. shading. There was also less difference between night and day temperatures. The soil was also drier, leading to less vegetation and fewer species, dominated by grass. “The shade under the panels may allow crops to be grown that can’t survive in full sun. Water losses may also be reduced, and water could be collected from the large surfaces of the solar panels and used for crop irrigation.” Diversity of species In contrast, the area between the panels supported a higher diversity of species in the warmer temperatures in summer, despite the fact that this land became cooler than the control areas in the winter. The scientists measured temperature, wind speeds, humidity, soil carbon, species diversity and other points of difference under the panels, between panels, and in control areas a distance from a solar farm. The extra cooling of the land in between the solar arrays, compared with controls in open fields, was 1.7°C, which was a surprise to researchers. Their theory as to why this happens is that the area between the solar arrays was more shaded in the winter because of the low angle of the sun − something that did not happen in the control They found that the temperature under the panels averaged 5.2°C lower in summer because of the plots. The report concludes that since land for producing food and crops is in short supply, the costs and benefits to agriculture of solar farms must be researched further. This needs to be done in many places, because radiation and temperature are substantially different than in England. The wider environmental costs and benefits of large-scale solar farms need to be evaluated everywhere because in some cases there could be considerable “co-benefits”. For example, in hot climates there could be a potential for new crops grown under the protective shade of the panels. Acknowledgement: http:// climatenewsnetwork.net/