“Wine is sunlight, held together by water.”
Galileo
Attention wine lovers – grapes grown for wine are among the crops most vulnerable to climate change. Gasp. Because these grapevines are especially sensitive, extreme weather, high heat, and drought are all harmful. We have already seen changes, and unless we reverse the warming, an estimated 70% of the world’s wine growing regions will be at risk. Facts.
Enter agrivoltaics. This is the concept of combining agriculture and solar panels (photovoltaics farms). Solar arrays and farms both require big swaths of land, but what if they join forces? Installing panels on farms provides shade and protection to plants and animals while generating clean energy. The combination has been shown to be mutually beneficial.
Combining wine and solar
These happen to be two of my favorite topics, but seeing them combined is something fresh. Win-win solutions are always the best kind, and this is a fun story during a festive time of year.
In theory, placing solar arrays on vineyards would have the same benefits as with other crops, but one agrivoltaics company decided to put it to the test. Sun’Agri set up two test pilot sites in France, looking at three different grape varieties. The result: the grape yields in all varieties were higher in areas with panels that without. Chardonnay grapes had a 60% higher yield under solar panels! The other varieties, Marselan and Grenache blanc, had a 30% and a 20% improvement respectively.
Something to celebrate
Solar panels help vineyards by:
- Moderating temperatures
- Increasing humidity
- Cutting the need for irrigation
- Protecting against frost
- Generating clean energy
What can we do?
When you’re sipping wine with family or friends in the coming weeks, this could be a good conversation starter. The more we connect climate change to the things we love, the more people will care. And the more people care, the better our chances are to bring down the temperature. Cheers to that!
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.