With Great Power4 Helmi 2025

Harvesting food and energy with agrivoltaics

Right now, there’s not much growing in Iowa. But Nick Peterson, strategic partnerships manager for Alliant Energy, is already thinking about next summer’s yields. He’s spearheading a collaboration with Iowa State University, an Alliant customer, to evaluate a practice called agrivoltaics, which marries farming with solar energy generation.

Across ten acres, the utility installed a 1.35 megawatt solar installation, using both fixed arrays and tracker panels. Along with a team from Iowa State University’s agriculture and engineering schools, Alliant Energy is looking at the potential for growing high-value crops under the panels. One year into the four-year project supported by a $1.8 million Department of Energy grant, early food and power generation results are promising.

This week on With Great Power, Nick tells Brad what scientists are learning from the project, why it could change how utilities think about agrivoltaics, and why one of the hardest parts of his job is addressing the fears some farmers have about the practice.

With Great Power is a co-production of GridX and Latitude Studios.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get podcasts. For more reporting on the companies featured in this podcast, subscribe to Latitude Media's newsletter.

Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Erin Hardick and Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Sean Marquand composed the original theme song and mixed the show. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The Grid X production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(84)

America’s data center backlash is speeding up energy reform

As a young lawyer working for an environmental nonprofit, Allison Clements always thought politics would prevent her from becoming an energy regulator. But by the time Senator Chuck Schumer recommende...

15 Syys 24min

Duke Energy’s demand response playbook

Some people turn to YouTube to watch music videos, clips of their favorite television shows, or how-to videos. Brian Lusher turned to it for a different reason. Years ago, Brian started downloading a...

1 Syys 22min

Affordability is the gatekeeper of the energy transition

Matt Ross feels at home in the ocean, on his surfboard. Strong currents, choppy conditions, and the occasional thrashing are all part of the experience — and the joy of a good, long wave makes it all ...

18 Elo 24min

Alice Yake on building the grid of tomorrow

Alice Yake’s parents’ taught her and her brother the importance of fairness and discipline, but also how to overcome obstacles and tackle big problems. Those life skills have served Alice throughout ...

4 Elo 25min

Season 7 is coming soon

Building a cleaner, resilient grid is no small task — especially today, as energy demand surges, electricity prices rise, and political headwinds strengthen. But over and over again, across six season...

21 Heinä 1min

How PSEG Long Island found its footing

Brian Kurtz doesn’t shy away from a tough climb. He’s always loved the mountains, and in college he spent an entire semester “abroad” in the Western Rockies, learning about ecology while also trudging...

23 Kesä 23min

How Google is taking energy efficiency from server rooms to living rooms

Ellen Zuckerman followed her nose, literally, into her first career as an energy auditor in New York City. She had an uncanny ability to sniff out dangerous gas leaks in apartment buildings. That led...

9 Kesä 22min

How a Florida water utility is tapping into AI

After emigrating from Cuba to the U.S. at age ten, Georges Gonzalez struggled to find his voice and his passion. It took joining the Civil Air Patrol and, later, the Air Force to boost his confidence ...

26 Touko 21min