PV Heat Islanding and Soil Response in a Southeastern United States Agrivoltaic Grazing System

Photovoltaic Heat Islanding (PVHI) along with land conversion from agriculture are two growing concerns of those determining whether to accept a Large Scale Solar (LSS) project into their community. Agrivoltaic projects that collocate agriculture with photovoltaic energy generation facilities offer an approach to addressing land conversion issues, and present a unique environment, different from both conventional agriculture and solar PV projects. PV heat islanding has largely been studied in desert regions, where many of the first LSS projects in the United States were built. But do findings from LSS projects in the desert represent projects built in other climatic regions, and does the purposeful co-location of agriculture with a LSS, change the heat islanding effect? On a verdant agrivoltaic solar system in Southeastern United States, PV Heat Islanding was measured to be 0.34 °C averaged across one year, with nighttime heat islanding reaching 1 °C, which is 3 to 4 times less than recorded in the desert. Reduced soil temperature and increased soil moisture, compared to a reference site, were also recorded, indicating improved growing conditions for agriculture.