It was great seeing our colleagues of the University of Arizona at their agrivoltaics site in Tucson outside of Biosphere II. The AgriSolar Clearinghouse put on a farm-to-table dinner evening of food grown underneath solar panels, including food from Jack's Solar Garden.
The Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center team visited with an Arizona legislator to discuss agrivoltaics legislation, spoke with land trusts about the possibility of combining solar with conservation goals, and spent the day with Arizona State University professors and students discussing potential academic research activities.
COSSA Conference
The Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center team joined in at the Colorado Solar and Storage Association conference in Denver to share with participants about the potential of incorporating agricultural activities in with solar array infrastructure. It was always fun to see solar developers and installers who’d never heard of agrivoltaics light up as if a light bulb went off over their head and illuminating a smile of excitement on their face. We spoke with roughly 100 folks about our operation and what the future of agrivoltaics can be.
Solar Farm Summit
Our Executive Director, Byron Kominek attended the first ever national agrivoltaics conference in Chicago and felt like a celebrity for two days. Many agrivoltaic professionals and enthusiasts around the country know of and were inspired by Jack’s Solar Garden. Common refrains were that there aren’t enough sheep in the US for all the solar array sites that want to graze sheep and that the more interest there is in agrivoltaics, the more competitive it will be with traditional solar developments. The picture above shows a room full of people raising their hands having been asked if they’d heard of Jack’s Solar Garden prior to this conference.
UPCOMING EVENTS
We'll be hosting our first ever silent disco at Jack's Solar Garden on
Saturday, May 13th from 7:00pm-9:00pm! Tickets are $25 and the event will be BYOB.
Tell your friends and get ready to boogie into the sunset with us!
The Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center and Jack's Solar Garden are proud to be hosting a Solar Developer and Agrivoltaic Workshop for solar industry professionals at Jack's Solar Garden
on June 22nd-23rd. Tickets are limited, so act fast!
The Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center and partnering Boulder County yoga studios will be hosting weekly yoga classes on Saturday's at Jack's Solar Garden beginning in June and running all summer until the end of August. Keep your eyes peeled for info on how to sign up!
JACK'S SOLAR GARDEN VISITORS
We'd like to say a very special thank you to each of the groups that
visited us at Jack's Solar Garden over the past three months.
Thank you for your support!
Bay Wa.re Corporate Tour AlsoEnergy Corporate Tour
Extreme Telematics Corp. Corporate Tour IEEE Smart Village Corporate Tour
Berthoud High School Tour CU Boulder Senior Planning Studio Class Tour
Watershed School Tour Dawson School Tour
LEGISLATION
COLORADO STATE LEGISLATION ON AGRIVOLTAICS:
Senators Cleave Simpson and Chris Hansen have co-sponsored a bill in the Colorado legislature about agrivoltaics. This bill, asks State agencies to investigate the possibilities of agrivoltaics, creates a grant program for agrivoltaics, and incentivizes solar developers by proposing personal property tax exemptions for solar energy infrastructure adapted to enable agrivoltaic activities. It is still under consideration and may be further amended before it is voted on for being a part of Colorado’s legislation for 2023.
Jaime will be offering beginner level plein air painting workshops/sessions at Jack's Solar Garden from spring through fall to help connect our local community to our work in agrivoltaics. Classes are free, no painting experience is required and all materials are included.
