These cranberry bogs come with a side of solar

Detailed summary

Two Massachusetts projects are the nation’s first to grow cranberries beneath solar panels, in another example of how agriculture and clean energy can coexist.

It’s cranberry season in southeastern Massachusetts. At bogs throughout the region, growers are collecting the ruby-red berries destined for holiday cakes, juice bottles, and cans of jellied sauce. At two farms, however, the harvesting process looks a little different: Pickers are navigating equipment around metal poles in the shade of solar panels.

The two bogs are the first in the country — perhaps the world — to grow cranberries beneath an operating solar installation. This fall marks the second season cranberries have been harvested from beneath the panels.

“We are literally proving it can be done,” said Prateek Tare, co-founder and executive vice president of Distributed Energy Infrastructure. His company constructed the two projects — a 4.4-megawatt array paired with a 13.5-megawatt-hour battery in the town of Kingston, and a 1-MW solar array in neighboring Plymouth.

Solar…

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