InSPIRE

From Open Energy Information

InSPIRE

Innovative Solar Practices Integrated with Rural Economies and Ecosystems




The InSPIRE project explores the environmental compatibility and mutual benefits of solar development with agriculture and native landscapes.

Agrivoltaics

is the pairing of solar and agriculture for shared benefits. The InSPIRE project unites field research across the United States with advanced modeling and analysis capabilities to provide foundational and actionable data on agrivoltaics and low-impact solar development, while also highlighting region-specific benefits and tradeoffs to ecosystems, grazing habitat, and crop production.

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Grazing

Sheep, cows, or other grazing animals foraging underneath and/or in between solar panels.

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Crop Production

Agricultural production under or in between rows of solar panels.

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Habitat

Pollinator habitat, native grasses and vegetation, and naturalized beneficial vegetation.

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Greenhouse

Solar technologies placed on top of or integrated with greenhouses.

A beekeeping collecting honey on a solar site
A beekeeping collecting honey on a solar site

InSPIRE research

helps facilitate mutual benefits of solar projects with agricultural and conservation land by convening multi-sector and multi-disciplinary teams, providing foundational data and services to the public, and conducting novel fieldwork and analytical research on agrivoltaics. InSPIRE’s work supports the replication and scaling-up of agrivoltaics research and deployment.
A beekeeping collecting honey on a solar site
A beekeeping collecting honey on a solar site

Contact

Jordan Macknick, Principal Investigator

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

| (303) 275-3828

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office and managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory