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Plant and Pest Advisory – Andy Wyenandt – September 3, 2024
The Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program is a multidisciplinary group of Rutgers faculty and staff committed
to designing and conducting applied agrivoltaics research and outreach for stakeholders in New
Jersey and throughout the region.
The Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program (RAP) was initiated over 3 years ago with the signing and passage
of the Dual Use Solar Act by the New Jersey legislature. In 2023, Agrivoltaics research installations
were established at three Rutgers-New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Stations (NJAES). One at
the Clifford E. and Melda C. Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown, NJ; one at the
Animal Farm on the Rutgers New Brunswick (SEBS)Campus, and one at the Rutgers Agricultural
Research and Extension Center (RAREC) near Bridgeton, NJ. Members of the Rutgers RAP Team in
collaboration the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, NJ Department of Agriculture, and NJ-DEP are
now in the process of implementing the Dual-Use Solar Energy Pilot Program.
The agrivoltaics research at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center(RAREC) near
Bridgeton, New Jersey has been designed to study the effects of agrivoltaic(AV) systems on the
production of specialty crops and soybeans. This year eggplant, pepper,fresh-market tomatoes, and
soybeans are being grown under three different treatments: single-axis tracking array with one row
of panels, single-axis tracking array with two rows of panels, and no panels (conventional production
as a control) to determine the effects caused by the presence of the panels on specialty crop and
soybean plant growth and yield.
At the Clifford E. and Melda C. Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown, NJ the effects of a
single-axis tracking array with one row of panels on hay production is being studied.
At the Rutgers SEBS Campus Animal Farm in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which hosts equine and
livestock facilities, the AV research has been designed to study pasture forage production and animal
grazing patterns in combination with vertical bifacial solar panels.
For more information on the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program and more AV resources please visit the
new website (https://agrivoltaics.rutgers.edu/). Stakeholders interested in keeping up the what’s going
on can now subscribe to the new website and have information send directly to their email account.
Just go to our contact page and follow the instructions to subscribe! The Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program
in collaboration with the American Farmland Trust will beholding upcoming workshops for those
stakeholders in New Jersey interested in learning more.