TOP PICKS
Black Friday and Community Solar – offset those discounts!
With the holiday season upon us, many of us are preparing for the biggest shopping events of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But amidst all the excitement and discounts, have you ever stopped to think about how your shopping habits impact the environment? Community solar is one way we can reduce our […]
Agrivoltaics in New York State: Framing the Opportunity
The mission of ACE NY (Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Inc.) is to promote clean, renewable electricity technologies and energy efficiency in New York to increase energy diversity and security, boost economic development, improve public health, and reduce air pollution. ACE NY believes that solar energy and farming can exist alongside one another, and […]
As California Gets Drier, Solar Panels Could Help Farms Save Water
Satellite imagery of Topaz Solar Farm, a massive solar installation inland from San Luis Obispo in Central California, depicts an oasis of blue panels surrounded by sun-scorched earth. The images do not capture, however, the thousands of sheep hard at work under the panels, eating the non-native grasses and reducing the threat of wildfire. The operation […]
Producing solar energy, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers in one place
Dual-use solar and agricultural projects, sometimes called AgriPV, AgPV, or agrivoltaics, is the practice of growing crops or raising livestock on the same land as a solar energy facility. The practice has been shown to cause mutual co-benefits for both the crops and animals and the output of the solar array. The latest of such projects comes […]
Lightstar Renewables Commences Construction of First-of-its-Kind Agrivoltaics Solar Farm Project in New York
Traditional territories of the Mohican and Wappinger people / WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y., Sept. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Lightstar Renewables is about to break ground on its Old Myers solar project, the first agrivoltaics (dual-use) project in New York. The project marks a significant milestone for the agriculture and solar industry, fostering energy independence as well as […]
American Farmland Trust Applauds Bipartisan Bill to Advance a Smart Solar Buildout
(Washington, D.C. – September 25th, 2023) American Farmland Trust (AFT) applauds today’s bipartisan introduction of the Protecting Future Farmland Act of 2023. The legislation, introduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), would make significant progress toward ensuring the current renewable energy buildout benefits rural communities, protects farmland, and strengthens farm viability. Specifically, the Protecting Future […]
PVTECH: AgriPV interest is rising in the US, could help secure permits
“A way to kind of mitigate that is to get agriPV kind of across the line, which is integrating solar farms on farmland, but making the two coexist equally.” Allison DeNunzio, director of engineering at Lightstar Renewables. DeNunzio added that the company is looking into the design challenges of having solar on farmland, such as […]
Lightstar Renewables’ Lucy Bullock-Sieger named one of Grist’s 50 Climate and Justice Fixers
Traditional territories of the Massachusett and Pawtucket People / Boston, Massachusetts, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lucy Bullock-Sieger, a solar advocate and Vice President of Strategy at Lightstar Renewables, a greenfield community solar developer and long-term owner and operator of community solar farms, has been selected as a 2023 Grist 50 Fixer for science and energy. Lucy […]
Lightstar Renewables partners with Arcadia to help connect underserved communities to a clean energy future
Traditional territories of the Massachusett and Pawtucket People / Boston, Massachusetts, Aug. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today Lightstar Renewables, a community solar developer and long-term owner and operator of community solar farms in the US, is announcing a new partnership with Arcadia, a climate technology company that unlocks global energy data to provide customer acquisition and […]
Heinrich, Braun Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Support Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, and U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, are introducing […]
Podcast: A rosy future for agrivoltaics (and without the thorns)
Lucy Bullock-Sieger occasionally spots a tractor weaving around and under the arrays at a utility-scale solar project near her home in Norfolk, Massachusetts. Few others would experience an emotional response to lawn mowing. But Bullock-Sieger does. That’s because she’s a self-described evangelist of agrivoltaics—industry jargon for solar projects co-located with livestock or crops. Frustration builds […]
Lightstar Renewables on the growth of community solar in the US, its challenges and implementing agriPV
While community solar is clearly not as big as utility-scale, its importance is continuously increasing in the US, especially since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Last week the Department of Energy announced a US$10 million financing programme (https://www.pv-tech.org/doe-doles-out-us52-million-to-develop-solar-manufacturing-recyclingand- cell-technology-plus-investment-for-grid-security-and-community-solar/) for community solar projects, while earlier in the year the Department of Treasury […]
