Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID NM_2025_Chavez

Exploring the Impact of Shade on Water Conservation and Quality in Containerized Agrivoltaics Systems

Institute: New Mexico
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $38,746 Total Non-Federal Funds: $38,746

Principal Investigators: Maria Chavez

Project Summary: Due to extreme heat and drought, New Mexico can be a difficult place for agricultural production, especially in a changing climate. Maintaining crop production as populations and global temperatures continue to increase will be a large challenge for farmers and growers. Alternative approaches to improve crop protection, water conservation, and nutrient retention must be considered. One potential solution is agrivoltaics, the co-location and dual use of solar energy and crop production. Solar panels provide shade and protection to the crops and surrounding environment. This increases soil moisture and decreases plant water use. In turn water released from the plants and substrate/soil during evapotranspiration cools the panels, decreasing panel temperatures and improving panel efficiency. This project aims to utilize containerized agrivoltaics grow boxes to monitor the impacts of shade and water deficits on substrate moisture, relative humidity, water quality, and crop production. These CAV systems can act as a model to larger AV systems that are more difficult to study. Additionally, small scale installations are practical for residential use and can inform community needs and engagement.