Alan Knapp, an ecologist at Colorado State University, has already seen successful agrivoltaics projects -- in Colorado grasslands used for cattle grazing. the first barrier to overcome is can it be done ?Biologically, can it be done? Physically, can it be done?And then the next barrier would be adoption?How do you convince people who own the lands to be willing to change the way they've done things in the past, and integrate, for example, energy generation?Luckily for Sweetland, since blueberries aren’t grazing animals, bushes can’t bump up against and break solar panels.And recently climatic unpredictability is already a motivating factor.In 2020, Maine blueberry yields dropped by 50% because of frosts in May and June, followed by a statewide drought.For this farm, a second, reliable income stream could really come in handy.But not everyone is on board.Some people feel that farmland should remain farmland.And why would we not put the solar panels on a building over a parking lot space that's already industrial?But solar panels require a lot of area to generate power and effectively replace fossil fuels.There must be many panels, tightly packed together to maximize energy output.They also require unrestricted access to the sun, which is not always possible in a populated area.Where rare we going to put all this energy?There's a lot of interest and motivation behind finding ways to have clean energy in Maine.
