Solar Developer BlueWave Sees Panels Meshing With Many Types of Farming

LANCASTER FARMING • July 5, 2023

Farming and solar energy often compete for land, but a Northeastern solar developer is pioneering ways for the two industries to complement each other. Boston-based BlueWave is studying how squash, blueberries, and even corn and cows could be raised amid grid-scale solar arrays. BlueWave is launching four research projects this year — two with vegetables, two with hay and cattle grazing. Solar panels could also work in established perennial crop fields. BlueWave built a solar array in a wild blueberry field in Maine to determine the effects of construction traffic on the crop.