Grist: Why Egyptian farmers are growing crops under solar panels

The short answer: agrivoltaics produce shade that reduces evaporation and plant stress – while generating clean electricity. From the story:

Researchers around the world are finding that instead of solar panels stopping plants from flourishing, what with all that shade, they can supercharge growth. Many plants evolved to grow in the dappled light of the forest floor, for instance, and struggle under full sun. The partner groups and farmers in Egypt are experimenting with different arrangements of panels, like a checkerboard. This doesn’t generate as much electricity as a sprawling solar farm, with row after row of solid panels with few gaps, but it lets more sunlight reach the crops.

For now, the power generated is helping to run irrigation equipment at one of the two pilot project communities,

but could also potentially power desalination plants for purifying the region’s brackish water. With that additional H2O, more places could support agriculture and agrivoltaics — a self-reinforcing cycle. 

Link.