Petrus Langenhoven and Dr. Ajay Nair.
On May 29, Petrus Langenhoven, Clinical Assistant Professor and Vegetable Extension Specialist in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, visited the Alliant Energy Solar Farm at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa — one of the most advanced agrivoltaics research sites in the Midwest.
Langenhoven met with Dr. Ajay Nair, Head of the ISU Horticulture Department and lead researcher on the project, for a guided tour of the facility. The 10-acre, 1.375-MW solar farm is the centerpiece of a public-private partnership between ISU and Alliant Energy, supported by a U.S. Department of Energy FARMS (Foundational Agrivoltaic Research at Megawatt Scale) grant. The site features multiple solar panel configurations, including industry-standard single-axis tracking panels and fixed-tilt arrays at varying heights, with eight vegetation treatments ranging from vegetable and small fruit crops to pollinator habitat mixes. Preliminary results are promising: summer squash grown between the panels yielded 28% more marketable produce than an open-field control, and air temperatures under the panels run 1–3°C cooler during the growing season.
The visit was timely for Langenhoven, where planning is underway to develop an agrivoltaics research installation in Indiana. Dr. Langenhoven is a senior personnel member on the Midwest Agrivoltaics for Resilient Communities (MARC) agrivoltaics project and recently received NSF funding to explore agrivoltaics feasibility in Indiana. Dr. Nair extended an invitation for the project to add research plots at the ISU site, providing an opportunity for collaborative multi-state data collection ahead of a possible installation in Indiana.