In this article “Growing eggplants & electricity to benefit both?” Mark Waltermire, owner of Thistle Whistle Farm in Colorado's North Fork Valley, is featured. He cultivates a diverse range of crops and plans to integrate agrivoltaics to produce half a megawatt of electricity by May 2024, with support from a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy awarded to COFFA. This innovative project, aimed at blending agriculture with solar power generation, seeks to explore the benefits and trade-offs of agrivoltaics, including potential improvements in crop growing conditions and soil moisture retention. The initiative represents a model of rural climate action and community-scale renewable energy, addressing challenges of climate change and energy needs in agricultural settings.
