{"id":26512,"date":"2025-03-25T13:37:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T17:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/?p=26512"},"modified":"2025-03-25T13:37:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T17:37:18","slug":"dual-use-solar-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/2025\/03\/25\/dual-use-solar-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Considering Solar Panels for Your Wild Blueberry Fields? Read Our New Fact Sheet First!"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-image26512_6635a9-41 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image26512_6635a9-41\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"A solar panel array on top of a wild blueberry field\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-26473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-105x79.jpg 105w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-317x238.jpg 317w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-423x317.jpg 423w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-634x476.jpg 634w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-846x635.jpg 846w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-951x713.jpg 951w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-1268x951.jpg 1268w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/03\/Rockport-solar-array-500x375.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,300px\" \/><figcaption>A solar panel array on top of a wild blueberry field. &#8211; UMaine Extension photo (Calderwood Lab)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Calderwood Lab has released a new fact sheet, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/factsheets\/dual-use-solar\/\">Considerations for Solar on Wild Blueberry Land in Maine<\/a>, detailing research on the feasibility of dual-use solar installations (or agrivoltaics) over Maine wild blueberry fields. While wild blueberry plants recovered well after solar installation, excessive shading significantly reduced yield, making dual-use solar unprofitable under standard industry panel spacing. Key challenges include harvesting difficulties, changes in plant growth, and increased management complexity. This fact sheet provides insights into site selection, evolving regulatory considerations in Maine, and alternative approaches for landowners exploring solar development opportunities.<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/factsheets\/dual-use-solar\/\">Read the full article here&gt;&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Calderwood Lab has released a new fact sheet, Considerations for Solar on Wild Blueberry Land in Maine, detailing research on the feasibility of dual-use solar installations (or agrivoltaics) over Maine wild blueberry fields. While wild blueberry plants recovered well after solar installation, excessive shading significantly reduced yield, making dual-use solar unprofitable under standard industry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Considering Solar Panels for Your Wild Blueberry Fields? 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