NC State College and Nevados, a single-axis photo voltaic tracker producer, held a ribbon chopping ceremony Wednesday launching a program and facility for the research and implementation of agrivoltaics.
Credit score: NC Clear Power Know-how Heart
The NC State Agrivoltaics Coaching Website is the primary of its sort within the Southeast, the place college students and photo voltaic professionals can be taught practices in agrivoltaics and the set up of photo voltaic expertise that permits set up on steep terrain via Nevados’ proprietary tracker expertise. Agrivoltaics is the co-location of photo voltaic panels and agricultural actions — together with meals and livestock manufacturing — on the identical land.
“This new photo voltaic coaching web site is a testomony to the ability of partnership,” mentioned Chris Frey, affiliate dean for analysis & infrastructure on the School of Engineering. “It’s a tremendous interdisciplinary collaboration between NC State’s Clear Power Know-how Heart, the Division of Animal Science and Nevados, a producer of photo voltaic monitoring methods. And it positions NC State as a seamless chief in power and agricultural schooling for college students and professionals all through their careers.”
Yesterday’s launch included a preview of the college’s new agrivoltaics coaching, Agrivoltaics in Motion: Enhancing Operations and Upkeep in Livestock-Built-in Photo voltaic Websites. This course, which is able to launch in Spring 2026, equips photo voltaic professionals with important abilities for navigating grazed photo voltaic websites, together with working with electrical fencing, guardian animals and sheep-based vegetation administration, whereas providing methods to streamline operations and upkeep and foster collaboration between photo voltaic operators and grazing professionals.
“Grazing sheep on photo voltaic farms affords a mess of advantages for the photo voltaic and sheep business,” mentioned Dr. Andrew Weaver, Assistant Professor of Animal Science. “These advantages embrace diminished mowing wants and less expensive vegetation administration, farmland preservation, improved public notion, and profession alternatives for native sheep producers. The NC State Agrivoltaics Coaching Website will present a useful alternative to coach our college students and farmers in the very best administration practices for photo voltaic grazing. This coaching web site isn’t nearly photo voltaic power; it’s about pioneering the way forward for sheep manufacturing – a future that’s extra resilient, productive, and worthwhile for North Carolina and the world.”
The coaching web site, together with three rows of Nevados’ TRACE All Terrain Tracker system and three kinds of photo voltaic modules, will likely be used for agrivoltaics schooling, particularly photo voltaic grazing, and photo voltaic technician coaching via the NC Clear Power Know-how Heart, Nevados and the Division of Animal Science
Information merchandise from the NC Clear Power Know-how Heart
