https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/10/zhang-helps-nys-go-solar-avoid-land-use-conflicts
Solar power will be a key to New York achieving its mandated climate goals of obtaining most of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and having carbon-free electricity by 2040. And fulfilling these goals could require large swaths of cleared farmland for immense, land-intensive solar projects.
Max Zhang, a professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been awarded a 2 ½-year, approximately $200,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for work aimed at determining efficient solar farm array configurations to avoid land-use conflicts or spoiling precious agricultural space.
Cornell impacting New York State Zhang, also a fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, believes the U.S. is in a period of “rapid energy transition,” from carbon-based to renewable.
“By looking at history, we’ve seen energy transition before,” he said. “A few centuries ago, we used wood, and then coal and later we used oil. So, right now we’re moving away from carbon energy at breakneck speed into green energy. Siting utility-scale solar energy projects throughout New York will become a major challenge that inevitably policymakers must face.”
Zhang’s team will monitor 10 representative solar farm sites throughout New York to examine microclimates, solar radiation, temperature and soil moisture to see whether agriculture and energy development – so-called “argrivoltaics” – can coexist.
Studies in the western U.S. have found that photovoltaic site designs can adjust for intensity, spectral distribution and duration of shading, to achieve optimal power generation without diminishing agricultural output. Similar studies have been extremely rare in the eastern U.S., Zhang said.
“We want to provide a scientific basis to guide future utility-scale solar development in New York State,” Zhang said. He hopes to engage policymakers, solar developers, farmers, local officials and community organizers to effectively disseminate the research findings.
Through collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Zhang and his group will share the findings and ideas on how to promote low-impact solar development.
Publications
Katkar, V. V., Sward, J. A., Worsley, A. and Zhang, K. M. Strategic land use analysis for solar energy development in New York State. Under review.
Sward, J. A., Nilson, R. S., Katkar, V. V., Stedman, R. C., Kay, D. L., Ifft, J. E. and Zhang, K. M., Integrating social considerations in multicriteria decision analysis for utility-scale solar photovoltaic siting, Applied Energy, Accepted.
Jeffery Sward, Jackson Siff, Jiajun Gu and K. Max Zhang. “Strategic planning for utility-scale solar photovoltaic development – Historical peak events revisited.” Applied Energy, 250: 1292-1301, 2019
