Jia et al. (2026) Assessing the Impact of Agrivoltaics on Water, Energy, and Carbon Cycles Using the Community Land Model Version 5

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Identification

• Journal: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
• Year: 2026
• Authors: Mengqi Jia, Bin Peng, Kaiyu Guan, David M. Lawrence, Evan H. DeLucia, Danica Lombardozzi, Matthew A. Sturchio, Steven A. Kannenberg, Alan K. Knapp, Xuzhi Du, Alson Time, Carl J. Bernacchi, DoKyoung Lee, Nenad Miljkovic, B. E. Branham, Madhu Khanna
• DOI: 10.1029/2025ms005092

Research Groups

• Not explicitly stated in the provided text (Study focuses on sites in Illinois and Colorado, likely involving researchers from the University of Illinois, Colorado-based institutions, and developers of the Community Land Model).

Short Summary

This study develops a process-based agrivoltaic model within the Community Land Model 5 (CLM5) to evaluate how solar panel integration affects water, energy, and carbon cycles. The findings reveal that agrivoltaics can mitigate drought in arid regions by conserving soil moisture, whereas in humid regions, shading significantly reduces crop carbon assimilation.

Objective

• To develop and validate a process-based agrivoltaic model within the CLM5 framework to assess the impacts of solar panel deployment on the water-energy-carbon nexus across different climates and vegetation types.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Patch and system levels at specific sites in Illinois and Colorado, USA.
• Temporal Scale: 15 years (2000–2014).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Community Land Model 5 (CLM5) with a newly developed agrivoltaic module.
• Data sources: Validation data from agrivoltaic experimental sites in Illinois and Colorado, including measurements of light conditions, soil moisture, and biomass carbon.

Main Results

• Climate-Dependent Impacts: In arid climates (Colorado, C3 grass), agrivoltaics conserve soil moisture through shading and rainfall redistribution, which enhances evapotranspiration and increases carbon assimilation and soil carbon storage.
• Radiation Limitation: In humid regions (Illinois, maize and soybean), the reduction in solar radiation due to shading is the primary driver, leading to decreased carbon assimilation and sequestration.
• Land-Use Efficiency: Analysis of Land Equivalent Ratios (LER) indicates that a medium Photovoltaic Ground Coverage Ratio (PV GCR) of 60% maximizes land-use efficiency at the studied sites.
• Drought Mitigation: The model demonstrates that agrivoltaic systems can serve as a tool to mitigate the negative impacts of drought in water-limited environments.

Contributions

• Model Development: Integration of a process-based agrivoltaic module into a sophisticated land surface model (CLM5), allowing for complex simulations of agricultural-solar interactions.
• Nexus Analysis: Provides a quantitative understanding of the trade-offs between energy production and agricultural ecosystem services (water and carbon cycles) under varying climatic conditions.
• Decision Support: Offers a modeling framework to optimize PV ground coverage ratios for sustainable land management.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Jia2026Assessing,
  author = {Jia, Mengqi and Peng, Bin and Guan, Kaiyu and Lawrence, David M. and DeLucia, Evan H. and Lombardozzi, Danica and Sturchio, Matthew A. and Kannenberg, Steven A. and Knapp, Alan K. and Du, Xuzhi and Time, Alson and Bernacchi, Carl J. and Lee, DoKyoung and Miljkovic, Nenad and Branham, B. E. and Khanna, Madhu},
  title = {Assessing the Impact of Agrivoltaics on Water, Energy, and Carbon Cycles Using the Community Land Model Version 5},
  journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025ms005092},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ms005092}
}

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