MSU students design solutions for multi-purpose solar farms
In Mississippi, Mississippi State University (MSU) said that a group of students from the university are currently working to solve problems in the solar energy industry through a team challenge sponsored by Cubico Sustainable Investments. As part of its corporate responsibility program, Cubico, a global renewable energy infrastructure company owning and operating large-scale solar farms, created a recent competition for MSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) students to design potential agrivoltaics solutions to control vegetation on solar farms with diverse landscapes. Agrivoltaics is the practice of using land for both agriculture and solar energy production, and according to the USDA, the need for this complementary land use will only increase as the federal government works to meet its target of a zero-emissions economy by 2050, MSU said. “Today, thousands of acres of solar farms are being planned and built in Mississippi, Agrivoltaics is a huge potential industry, and this competition was an excellent opportunity for our students to help shape its future,” said Cory Gallo, professor of landscape architecture and CALS interim assistant dean.
