Farming to grow food, and the energy generation are two totally separate industries. Both require totally different expertise and manpower. However, lots of work is now being done by many to use their farm lands to grow fruits and vegetables as well as use same land for energy generation on same time.
Their are fruit and other kinds of plants which need a bit of shade or cover from direct sunlight. One example of that is strawberries, on lots of places where they are planted, they are covered with polythene sheets or other materials, to save them from direct sunlight. However, some farmers have seen opportunity in this and they have started to use solar panels to cover their crop fields and generate energy on same time.
Solar panels are installed on crop fields, much higher than human height, in rows, so that plants can be grown below them and there is enough spacing below and between them for agricultural machinery. Sometimes the bifacial solar panels are used and they are installed in rows. Between them the plants are grown in rows, also there is enough clearance between them for agricultural machinery.
Also this depends on the type of crop you have to grow, for example for strawberries the solar panels can be installed directly above them, as the strawberries does not need big agricultural machinery for harvesting.
On the other hand, the crop fields of grains need much higher clearance as mostly they do not need the shade and also heavy machinery is needed to harvest them. So bifacial solar panel, installed vertically in rows with much higher distance between them are more suitable for crop fields of grains like wheat and more.
Bifacial Solar Panels, Installed Vertically
Both sides of these solar panels are used to generate the energy with any sunlight which shines on them. It can be seen clearly in the picture above, there is ample clearance between the rows for the agricultural machinery.
Now, as the renewable energy sources like solar are the best and cleanest energy sources. Unlike coal and other materials used to generate energy, any energy generated with the sources like solar panels does not have any bad impacts on the environment of planet earth.
Almost, all the countries of the world have committed to go green and carbon neutral in coming years, in a bid to reduce the carbon emissions into the atmosphere of the earth. Solar energy is one of the solutions which is going to be used as an alternative to the current fossil fuel energy sources.
However, a big problem with the solar energy is the immense space which solar energy generation farms need. But if the people can use their existing land which they are using for other purposes too, their is nothing better than that. People have been using their rooftops as well as parking lots etc for solar energy generation but is idea of using the crop fields for energy generation as well along with growing food is game changing. This should be experimented with and adopted widely wherever possible.