“There’s a huge amount of solar farms proposed all around the country, the number keeps on increasing each day.
“I think the best estimate at the moment is there is around 14,000 hectares going to go into solar farms in the next five to six years.
“We really want to explore what the opportunities are for farmers and landowners to really maximise the value of solar farms.”
Page said grazing sheep under the panels was common but the university wanted to explore growing a range of crops between the rows.
“We’re looking at berries like blueberries and ranui berries and vegetable crops as well.”
There is plenty of room for crops with 14 metres between each row of solar panels, he said.
“There’s still plenty of light between the rows to grow crops but we also want to investigate the microclimate underneath the panels.
“With the reduced sunlight under the panels, it could reduce heat stress and evaporation from the ground which could help some crops.”
The solar farm will also help Lincoln University towards its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
Scheduled for completion in mid-2025, the energy farm will increase the university’s total generating capacity to approximately ~3.56 GWh, covering 18% of the campus’s annual electricity requirements after the heating system upgrade to 100% electric power.
Most of the energy generated by the new array will be used by the Lincoln campus, though the university will be looking to donate excess energy to the nearby community during low-demand periods like the end-of-year break and summer weekends.
- RNZ
