Using Solar Panels to Enhance Groundwater

Saving a Depleting Aquifer

The High Plains Aquifer spans portions of eight states and is a major source of irrigation for one of the countries’ largest agricultural regions. Due to decades of groundwater extraction, water levels have fallen dangerously low across much of the aquifer.

Some areas of the aquifer now have an estimated remaining lifespan of years to decades. In other locations, the aquifer has been depleted to the point that no irrigation is possible. This situation is a direct threat to the $3.5 billion agricultural economy that the High Plains Aquifer supports.

Researchers at the Kansas Geological Survey/University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Michigan State University are studying the potential of placing solar panel arrays outfitted with rain collection gutters on low-productivity, non-irrigated areas of farmland. These panels would collect both solar power and rainwater, providing farmers with low- to no-cost electricity for use and sale, providing an economic support for farms while also preserving groundwater for irrigation.

Benefiting Farmers & the Environment

A common irrigation practice, center pivot, which waters crops in a circle, leaves the corners, called pivot corners, with little or no irrigation. This research seeks to make use of these pivot corners by installing solar panels in these areas to generate energy and collect rainwater. The energy can be used or sold by the farmer and the rainwater can funnel into filtered basins, allowing the water to infiltrate the soil. Ultimately, this research can put currently low productivity land to beneficial use.

The researchers hypothesize that pivot-corner solar panels can provide numerous benefits, including:

• Enhancing water sustainability by collecting rainwater and enhancing aquifer recharge.
• Increasing energy resiliency by expanding renewable energy production.
• Providing economic benefits to farmers through reduced energy costs and options to sell additional electricity, as well as lower irrigation costs.