Spring is Springing! Happy spring everybody! Or for those of you in Colorado, welcome to second spring. There's every chance of more snow to come throughout April and even into May. Activity around Jack's Solar Garden has been springing back to life, and we are excited for the season ahead. At the end of this month, our public tours begin again on a bi-monthly basis from April 27th thru October 26th. Check out the events calendar on our website and sign-up for a tour now!! Check out what else we've been up to over the past few months, and what we've got coming up in the next few months below. Thank you for continuing to support us at the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center. We really appreciate you. |
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- Agrivoltaic Workshops - May 30 & 31, August 15 & 16
- Our popular agrivoltaic workshops are returning this year. We will be hosting two workshops and they are open to the public. Join us for two days of interactive presentations and hands-on activities at Jack's Solar Garden. Learn about all aspects of agrivoltaic systems and hear from exciting presenters working in this field. Register through our website.
- Be Original Boulder County - July 20
- Are you a local Boulder County business, nonprofit organization or artist? Come out and showcase your work at this event celebrating innovation in our county. We are looking for event sponsors as well! Please contact us for more information!
- More information for attendees will be coming out in the next few months - keep an eye on our website, social media pages, and in the next newsletter in June!
- Volunteer Training Day - April 20
- If you are interested in volunteering with us this year, we are hosting a volunteer training day on April 20th! There are still spots available so register here for your place now! You will get to learn in-depth about the work we do at Jack's Solar Garden and the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center, meet the team and other volunteers, and have a fun day out on site! Lunch will be provided.
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Are you a solar business in ADAMS, BOULDER, MORGAN OR WELD COUNTY? We're looking for solar companies with projects in Adams, Boulder, Morgan, and Weld counties that would be interested in working with us on implementing agrivoltaics in their existing solar arrays. |
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A few important announcements: - Solar siting land use code assessment
- Allison Jackson has been hard at work over the last 6 months working with NREL on putting together a land use code assessment of all 64 counties in Colorado. We are expecting this to be published and available to the public in April.
- American Farmland Trust
- Are you working in the agricultural industry? Then AFT want to hear from you! Here is a link to their survey.
- Sprouts City Farms 2024 CSA
- Remember to sign up for your CSA share with Sprouts City Farms and eat fresh vegetables grown directly underneath solar panels! Register here for the 2024 growing season.
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Key dates for your calendar: - Public Tours of Jack's Solar Garden: Bi-weekly, Saturdays, April 27 - October 26
- Solar Developer Agrivoltaics Workshop: May 30 & 31 and August 15 & 16
- Be Original Boulder County @ Jack's Solar Garden: July 20
- Harvest the Sun, Farm-to-Table Fundraiser event: September 14
Keep an eye out for more coming up throughout the year! |
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CATCH UP ON THE PAST FEW MONTHS |
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We have hosted two webinars: - February 22nd, we spoke with Nick DiDomenico and Amy Scanes-Wolfe of Drylands Agroecology Research, and Duncan Gilchrist of The Nature Conservancy on their findings of integrating agricultural activity into an existing solar array in Colorado
- March 21st, Colorado State University's PhD candidates Christopher Toy, Matt Sturchio and Alex Siggers joined us to discuss their research at Jack's Solar Garden.
If you missed any of these, check out the recordings on our website! |
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CALC on Tour Our Education & Policy Manager, Allison Jackson, and Special Projects Analyst, Austin Hazlehurst, traveled to Arizona in March to conduct agrivoltaic outreach with policymakers, farmers/ranchers, agricultural researchers, and other stakeholders. They went to Yuma, Maricopa, and Phoenix, where they met with a total of 3 Arizona congressmen/congresswomen, the governor's office of resiliency, University of Arizona extension officers, AriSEIA, and more.
Allison and Austin were generally well received. They learned a lot about the local intricacies of policy, farming systems, and stakeholder relations, and they had great discussions about some of the potential benefits and applications of agrivoltaics across Arizona. The most common theme shared by these stakeholders was that local agrivoltaic demonstration projects will be key for driving wide-scale agrivoltaic adoption in Arizona. Funding challenges exist for these demonstration projects, but the barriers may be able to be overcome through policy and/or grant programs. During their trip, Allison, Austin, and Bert Hernandez, the director of the University of Arizona's Yuma Agricultural Center, were interviewed by KAWC Colorado River Public Media. A recording of the interview is available at the 42:13 mark of this podcast. They even managed to sneak in a quick hike up Camelback Mountain! We are hopeful that the seeds planted during this trip will blossom with continued outreach efforts in Arizona. |
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(Left: Austin & Allison at the top of Camelback Mountain. Right: Yuma Agriculture Center) |
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Calling all teachers and educators! Are you interested in bringing your students for a tour of Jack's Solar Garden? Would you like to have our resident Education & Policy Manager come to your school and present? |
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS |
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