Project Advisory Committee - UMass Agrivoltaics (Dual-Use) Research

Project Team

Project Funder/Sponsor

U.S. Department of Energy, Solar Energy Technologies Office; Zachary Goff-Eldredge, PhD, Technology Manager; Chris Anderson, TPO.

Contributors

• UMass Amherst, Clean Energy Extension: Dwayne Breger, PhD, River Strong, Mary Kraus
• UMass Extension Agriculture Program: Clem Clay, Sam Glaze-Corcoran, PhD
• UMass Cranberry Station: Hilary Sandler, PhD and Giverson Mupambi, PhD
• UMass Amherst Resource Economics: Jill Fitzsimmons, PhD, Taehyun Kim
• American Farmland Trust: Emily Cole, PhD (through mid-May 2022), Julie Fine, Ethan Winter
• Solar Agricultural Services, Inc.: Iain Ward
• MA State Agencies Dept of Energy Resources: Kara Sergeant
• MA State Agencies Dept of Agricultural Resources: Gerry Palano
• AES / BlueWave
• Pine Gate Renewables, Greenbacker Capital / NextSun Energy
• Hyperion Systems

Project Advisory Committee (PAC)

A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) has been established to advise the UMass agrivoltaics research team as the project moves forward. The 12-member PAC represents a wide range of stakeholder perspectives, including agriculture, agricultural economics, land-use issues, and solar development. The PAC meets quarterly to review materials and advise the research team, and provides project input on an ongoing basis.

Agriculture

• Brian Wick, Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, Executive Director
• Margaret Christie, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, Special Projects Director
• Chris Grant, New England Vegetable & Berry Growers Assoc, Secretary

Agricultural Economics

• Irene (Meg) Xiarchos, USDA OCE, Economist
• Corey Lang, University of Rhode Island, Associate Professor, Economist
• Alex DePillis, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, Senior Agricultural Development Coordinator

Land Use Issues

• Mike Ghia, Land for Good Vermont Field, Agent
• Genevieve Byrne, Vermont Law School, Assistant Professor/ Staff Attorney
• Karen Heymann, Mass Audubon, Advisor
• Whitney Beals, Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, Conservation Advisory Council

Solar Development

• Position Unfilled

National Agrivoltaic Research/Consultancy

• Alexis Pascaris, AgriSolar Consulting, Founder

November 13, 2024 Quarterly Meeting

Welcome / Introduction (10 minutes)

Site Trials: Project Status and Agricultural Year Monitoring Effort (50 minutes)

• Cranberry Sites
• Non-Cranberry Sites
• PAC Discussion and Feedback

Economic Analysis (20 minutes)

• General Update on Economic Research
• Choice Experiment
• PAC Discussion and Feedback

Moving Forward (10 minutes)

• Closing Comments, Timeline and Agenda Items for Next Meeting

March 18, 2024 Quarterly Meeting

Welcome / Introduction (10 minutes)

Site Trials: Project Status and Agricultural Year Monitoring Effort (50 minutes)

• Cranberry Sites: Project Development Status
• Non-Cranberry Sites: Overview of Technical Report on Data Collection/Analysis
• PAC Discussion and Feedback

Economic Analysis (15 minutes)

• General Update on Economic Research
• Choice Experiment: Overview and Invitation to SubGroup
• PAC Discussion and Feedback

Information Dissemination (5 minutes)

• Update of Dissemination Plan

Moving Forward (10 minutes)

• Closing Comments, Timeline and Agenda Items for Next Meeting

October 27, 2023 Quarterly Meeting:

Welcome / Introduction (5 minutes)

Site Trials: Project Status and Agricultural Year Monitoring Effort (40 minutes)

• Project Development Status for Cranberry Sites
• Grafton Project Monitoring (Vegetables and Grazing)
• Munson Project Monitoring (Hay)
• Hadley Project Progress (Vegetables)
• PAC Discussion and Feedback

Economic Impact Research: Review and Discussion (25 minutes)

• Review of On-Farm Effort and Financial Collection Tool
• Planned Work on Public Acceptance Experiment Design
• PAC Discussion and Feedback

Information Dissemination (10 minutes)

• Publications
• Stakeholder Presentations
• Planned Outreach

Moving Forward (10 minutes)

• Closing Comments, Timeline and Agenda Items for Next Meeting

Field Crop Research Update

Economic Impact Research

March 13, 2023 Quarterly Meeting

Welcome / Introduction (5 minutes)

Updates (10 minutes)

• Project Timetable and U.S. DOE Contract No Cost Time Extension
• Dual-Use Project Construction Status across Site Trials

Economic Impact Research: Review and Discussion (25 minutes)

• Update on Process
• Updates on Research Questions
  • Cost Tracking Tools
  • Public Acceptance
  • Impact Estimation
• Upcoming Requests for PAC Input

Site Trials – Review of 2022 Site Work and 2023 Research Preparations (30 minutes)

• Non-Cranberry
• Cranberry
• PAC feedback on site trial data collection and monitoring and preparation for site trial studies in spring 2023. Are we well prepared to answer the research questions of most interest?

Information Dissemination (10 minutes)

• Presentation of Project Information Sheet
• Input from PAC on content and dissemination

Moving Forward (10 minutes)

• Closing Comments, Timeline and Agenda Items for Next Meeting

Economic Impact Research

Field Crop Research Update

Cranberry Research Update

September 7, 2022 Quarterly Meeting:

Welcome / Introduction (5 minutes)

Update: Current Project Tasks (40 minutes)

• Update: Individual Site Trials
• Agricultural Monitoring Protocols
• Economic Research

Dissemination Plan for Project Information and Outcomes (35 minutes)

• Short Presentation of Dissemination Plan
• Feedback from PAC on Plan (longer feedback via email to follow)

Moving Forward (10 minutes)

• Next Quarterly PAC Meeting: early December (January as back-up)
• Other issues from PAC

Field Crop Updates

Economic Analysis of Agrivoltaic Adoption

Dissemination Plan

May 24, 2022 Quarterly Meeting:

Welcome: UMass and U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office

Role and Charge of the PAC

Introduction of Project Team (15 minutes)

Introduction of PAC Members (30 minutes)

Prompts

• Name, affiliation
• How has your work intersected with agrivoltaics, solar, or farm viability?
• What are the research questions in this project that interests you the most, and that you might be able to help us with?

Discussion: Current Project Tasks (30 minutes)

• Summer 2022 Site Trials – Project Design and Farm Plan, Research Protocols
  Sam Glaze-Corcoran, Clem Clay, Julie Fine
• Overview and Status of Cranberry Dual-Use Projects
  Giverson Mupambi, Hilary Sandler
• Economic Research – Overview and PAC Assistance
  Jill Fitzsimmons

Moving Forward (15 minutes)

• Quarterly PAC Meetings
• Role of PAC in Project Reviews and Input

Summer 2022 Site Trials – Project Design and Farm Plan, Research Protocols

Overview and Status of Cranberry Dual-Use Projects

Economic Research – Overview and PAC Assistance