By Blake Jackson
As solar energy continues to expand across the United States, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are studying ways to generate renewable electricity while preserving productive farmland. Their work focuses on agrivoltaics, an approach that combines solar panels with agricultural activities on the same land.
The university’s Kegonsa Research Campus, located west of Lake Kegonsa, serves as a living laboratory for this research.
The nearly 17-acre facility features 5,424 solar panels arranged in multiple configurations to evaluate how panel placement affects sunlight, crop production, livestock grazing, and environmental conditions.
“What we’re talking about here are utility-grade solar arrays that need to provide power for the grid, so they need to be relatively large,” Ankur Desai, chair of the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison.
Researchers are examining factors such as water use, soil carbon, nutrient movement, and wind patterns to better understand how agricultural production and solar infrastructure can successfully coexist.
“To allow farming to happen requires a lot of consideration about the spacing, what crops you can grow and how much that changes things like the local water cycle or nutrient delivery,” Desai said.
The research site, which opened in 2025, is expected to operate for 25 years. Scientists from several disciplines will gather data each spring and publish their findings in scientific journals.
The team also plans to share results with farmers through educational outreach programs to demonstrate practical opportunities for integrating agrivoltaics into agricultural operations.
The facility includes specialized 100-foot-tall flux towers that monitor moisture, wind, and the exchange of gases and energy between the land and atmosphere, making it one of only a few agrivoltaic research sites worldwide using this technology.
“The world needs energy to do all the things it wants to do and that demand is only increasing with time,” Desai said.
“That energy needs to come from multiple sources and right now with a changing climate and with all of the demands on energy, solar energy is one of our best options globally and nationally and in Wisconsin.”
Photo Credit: istock-shansekala
Categories: Wisconsin, Education, Energy