this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Spain has a similar region filled with greenhouses. The test case used for solar voltaics is for a crop that is sensitive to temperature, so a minor loss in exposed radiance may be preferable to a consistent growing temperatures.
I feel like it also depends on where the land is regarding growing. France is an agricultural giant and would probably compare to California in regards to land values. Yet, both places have an enormous agricultural output.
It is also getting back to my statement as to what kind of farming would benefit from having plants compete with silicon for solar radiance. The best trade off is greenhouses, where is already an attempt to trade some weather exposure for climate control. I don't see this technology being used for open fields because of how it will affect open farming. And in cases where European farmers use greenhouses to grow vegetables for longer parts of the year, American farmers trade off growing seasons based on latitude.