Keeling Curve

Project Summary / Description:

P4P proposes to design, engineer, and demonstrate a transformational, photovoltaics over agriculture system utilizing a low-cost, tensioned-cable structure, single-axis photovoltaic tracking, and an energy-crop management control platform. The proposed project will adapt P4P‚ long-span cable-structure designs to create an active, single-axis-tilt system for the agricultural market. 

This technology provides an innovative answer to meeting future energy and agricultural demands. The tracker element of the ActiveCrop system will utilize algorithms written to enhance the combined power-production/farming process. Balancing light utilization for electricity versus crop production, to achieve the highest economic value under variable and dynamic environmental conditions, including crop protection from adverse weather. 

The power produced by the ActiveCrop system will contribute to energy independence while lowering energy-related GHG emissions and increasing the efficiency of the agricultural process through reduced water requirements. Utilizing land already developed for conventional agriculture in tandem with a solar PV system has presented promising results of a 60-70% increase of land utilization. Studies were performed with fixed-tilt structures, which intercept less radiation than single-axis trackers, but which demonstrated the compatibility of these two land uses. By maximizing the relationship between crops and power production we believe land utilization benefits of P4P‚ systems will show an increase over the fixed-tilt studies. By utilizing P4P‚ long-span low-cost structures it will allow solar canopies over agriculture to become a significant fraction of deployed solar in the US by reducing equipment and construction costs, maintaining structural integrity, reducing water consumption, and allowing highly productive agriculture to continue below.

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Mission Statement:

To build structures that support humanity by advancing tensioned-cable, PV suspension technologies to enable lowest-cost-of-energy solar economics while providing additional direct benefits to land use, energy efficiency, water conservation, and enhanced agricultural production.

Link: Facebook:

http://p4penergy.com/