First of its kind partnership to advance agrivoltaics in Cardston

Posted on February 6, 2025 by admin

Sun Cycle Farms

Sun Cycle Farms (SCF) has announced a formalized partnership with the Town of Cardston to stand up a physical location for utility scale demonstration and applied research in agrivoltaics. 

This partnership offers a tangible means of demonstrating how the synergies of solar panels on operating farmland can generate significant economic and ecological benefits back to communities and natural ecosystems within the region. On a broader scale, it will serve as a knowledge hub, helping to accelerate gains in regenerative agriculture, functional soil heath improvement and the viable, feasible production of renewable energy.

“Having a designated place to implement regenerative agriculture primary production principles and utility scale solar energy production using new and existing technical, scientific and practical approaches will be critical for both companies and landowners. The activities carried out onsite will allow for significant efficiencies to be had, generating a space for open testing, agile refinements and successful outcomes,” says Jason Bradley, CEO at SCF. “Agrivoltaics is one of the best dual land use solutions that we have for creating circular economies and revitalizing rural communities. Having a place that actually demonstrates this, at scale, is important for homeowners, landowners, municipalities, corporations, and provincial ministries.”

“The Town of Cardston is excited to partner with Sun Cycle Farms. As a solar farm owner and operator, the best use of the land used for renewables is always one that needs consideration. While the work being done by SCF stands to improve the productivity and use of the Town solar farm, it’s the opportunity to be a part of a new and broader element of research that is the most exciting part,” says Jeff Shaw, CAO at the Town of Cardston. “The scalability of the work done here in Cardston may one day become the new benchmark for responsible renewable energy installations.”

The benefits of this new partnership include:

• The opportunity to approach agrivoltaics with a regenerative agriculture framework and to determine improvements to functional soil health and validation of comparable nutrient dense food calories being grown on a per acres basis as compared to other classes of land.

• A greenfield location for varying solar racking configurations and other related solar technology and infrastructure,

• A setting to experiment with multiple livestock species integration for the creation of beneficial grazing practices, done in unison with cash crop and forage production and

• The prospect to integrate new and leading-edge farm equipment, infrastructure, technology, and practices including autonomous, swarm, and remote farm equipment management, virtual livestock fencing and autonomous livestock grazing.

Projects are currently being planned for implementation in Q1 of 2025 as SCF’s agrivoltaics demonstration farm will start construction in March 2025 with the installation of solar racking configurations along with infrastructure for crop and livestock demonstrations and applied research projects.