Honestly this is probably a better use of the land than growing lettuce in a freaking desert. The water situation in California isn’t getting better
this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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I wonder if you could gather water from the solar panels cooling at night and having moisture on them from condensation. If they had a hydrophobic coating, the water would always run to the bottom which could then be caught in a tube structure to carry the water into a cistern to water the plants that are growing in the non-panel covered areas of the farm.
What you really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.
Ancient Persian water traps exist and function much like the water traps from Dune
I believe there have been experiments growing crops under panels. The effect you speak of and the fact that panels, when they have no backing, are translucent can be good for some plants.
Harvesting under structures is difficult though.
It’s effects tend to very based on plant and local conditions, but typically the point of agrivoltaics is to shade plants in hot, dry climates around midday to improve yield. At low angles sunlight goes around the panels, but at peak sun they are shaded.
It'll be rotated with soybeans to enhance energy yields.
Sooner or later, people will get confused and we'll end up with a crop of solarbeans. :)