Location: Range Management Research
Project Number: 3050-41000-011-139-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2026
End Date: Aug 30, 2030
Objective:
To build and manage a rangeland agrivoltaics experiment at the Corona Ranch to gather data on costs and benefits of dual-use ranching in shortgrass prairie environments.
Approach:
Construct and manage a new 100 kW agrivoltaics array in a grassland environment at the Corona Range & Livestock Research Center. Outfit array and manage data collection from sensors (soil moisture, direct solar irradiance, and temperature) and measure energy production from array. Manage cattle grazing at array, record animal interactions with array, animal physiological responses, and record data on forage production responses under and away from array. Arrange site visits to array from regional producers and facilitate interviews with producers.