WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
As energy costs rise and water scarcity intensifies across California’s Central Valley, this workshop brought together farmers, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore practical and innovative solutions for rural energy systems. Participants engaged in conversations spanning distributed energy systems, agrivoltaics, hydrogen, innovative solar, storage, policy, and agricultural resilience.
Challenges:
- Electricity prices have increased in California (may exceed 50 cents/kWh), squeezing farmers
- Demand for electricity usage is increasing
- Interconnection queues and supply chains are struggling to keep up
- Complex issues such as water resource availability and policy, land use change, scale, and political uncertainty loom large
Opportunities that increase the feasibility of localized rural energy systems:
- Battery costs have dropped, enabling rural energy systems to be more economical
- Electrolyzer, green ammonia, and other technologies have advanced
- Electrification is advancing on many fronts
Summary:
The workshop convened researchers, energy developers, farmers, agency representatives, and technology innovators to explore challenges and opportunities in rural California energy systems. Stakeholders focused on rising electricity costs, grid constraints, water scarcity, and the pressure these place on agricultural producers.
Speakers, including Cindy Lashbrook, Dave Williams, Tom Harmon, Ric O’Connell, Dan Martin, Hiro Iwanaga, Richard Mrlik, Alex Mayer, Helge Biernath, Eric Cheng, Alex Ivanenko, Greg Rosen, Raja Ramesh, Josh Bennett, Kathryn Beros, and Sarah Kurtz, offered perspectives spanning farm operations, technology platforms, tariffs, agrivoltaics, hydrogen storage, and microgrid design. Speaker bios are available HERE
California farmers face intersecting pressures from:
- Increasing electricity prices
- Water scarcity and SGMA-driven land changes
- Unpredictable markets
- Infrastructure bottlenecks
The goal of the workshop was to identify how modern technologies could reduce costs, increase resilience, and support economic development.
9:30 am – Introductory Session
California’s challenges and opportunities: Introductory Remarks – Sarah Kurtz (UC Merced) VIEW PRESENTATION; additional remarks from David Williams (38 Degrees North); Dan Potash
10:00 am – Session I: Defining the Problem
What is driving the “squeeze” on California’s farmers? - Cindy Lashbrook, Riverdance Farms
Role of energy: What does a 10-year energy plan look like for a farmer? - Dave Williams, 38 Degrees North
Role of water scarcity: Could efforts to repurpose farmland lead to economic development? - Tom Harmon, UC Merced VIEW PRESENTATION
11:00 am – Session II: Grid-Level & Policy Issues
Raja Ramesh, California Energy Commission, moderator
Reducing the cost of building out and operating the grid through innovative big-picture thinking - Ric O’Connell, Gridlab VIEW PRESENTATION
Intricacies of Central Valley tariffs - Dan Martin, Solar Repower VIEW PRESENTATION
12:00 pm – Lunch & Poster Session
A showcase of student and UC Merced laboratory research
- "Greenhouse Cooling with Degraded Water Sources." Jose Martinez, James Palko, and Yanbao Ma
- "Observed Efficiencies of Grid-scale Batteries in California." Aditya Nori, Farzan Zarefifi, and Sarah Kurtz
- "Unlocking the potential of electric and hybrid tractors via sensitivity and techno-economic analysis" Dilawer Ali, Ricardo de Castro, Reza Ehsani, Stavros Vougioukas, Peng Wei VIEW POSTER
- "Electrochemical prediction of metal hydride-based hydrogen storage pressure" Mengting Li, ThomasJae Garcia, Michael Ponpoe, Min Hwan Lee
- "Simulation-based sizing of a Mobile, Agrivoltaic Platform" Andrew Koerber, Ricardo Pinto de Castro, et al.
- "Experimental and Analytical Study of an Anode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell" Shadi Salehian, Joy Marie Mora, Haoyu Li, and Po-Ya Abel Chuang
- "Mechanistic Pathways of Metal Dopant Segregation in Multimetallic Catalyst Nanoparticle Formation" Mohammad Fakhimi, Gregory Elcombe, ThomasJae Garcia, Min Hwan Lee
- "Effect of Atomic-scale Surface Treatment on Metal Dopant Segregation in Perovskite Electrodes" Gregory Elcombe, ThomasJae Garcia, Min Hwan Lee
- "Scanning probe-based study of leakage current through solid-state battery electrolytes" ThomasJae Garcia, Min Hwan Lee
- "Optimization of Electric Farm Equipment Mobile Solar Units" Rodolfo Galvan, Ricardo Pinto de Castro (additional pending)
- "Designing Well-Controlled Nanocatalysts for Chemical Transformations" Luis Pinacho-Rios, Montserrat Mendoza, Jennifer D. Lee VIEW ABSTRACT
- "Analysis of heat transfer mechanisms for solar panels" Gokce Ozkazanc Guc, Maged Elshabury, Roman Giglio, Ben Lepley, Caleb Eubank, and James Palko
- "A Tapped Transmitter with mixed frequency architecture for diverse WPT standards" Xiaodong Yang, Shuye Shang, Eric Cheng
- "Influence of Electrochemical Activation on the Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Performance of NiCo Tungstates" Ayon Karmakar, Po-Ya Abel Chuang VIEW POSTER
- "An Optimal DC Power-sharing Distribution Technique for Electric Mobility and Renewable Energy Applications" Shuye Shang, Xiaodong Yang, Eric Cheng
1:00 pm – Session III: Innovative & Advanced Energy Systems
Can distributed ammonia contribute to economic development in California? - Hiro Iwanaga, Talus VIEW PRESENTATION
Energy storage in rural energy systems - Richard Mrlik
Strategies for reducing farmers’ energy costs - Josh Bennett, Huwa Enterprises VIEW PRESENTATION
1:45 pm – Networking Break
2:00 pm – Session IV: Solar Integrated With Other Systems
Floating PV as an example of innovative approaches for farmers - Alex Mayer, Noria Energy VIEW PRESENTATION
Vertical and other innovative solar technology - Helge Biernath, Sunstall VIEW PRESENTATION
Efficiency and cost savings using DC energy systems - Eric Cheng, UC Merced VIEW PRESENTATION
2:45 pm – Networking Break
3:00 pm – Session V: More Tools for Rural Energy Systems
Role of hydrogen in rural power systems to address grid constraints and rising electricity costs - Alex Ivanenko, HyWatts VIEW PRESENTATION
Agrivoltaic strategies that will help the farmer - Kathryn Beros, HARVEST California VIEW PRESENTATION
Moveable agrivoltaic systems - Greg Rosen, Doubleland VIEW PRESENTATION
3:45 pm – Wrap-Up & Next Steps
Closing reflections - Sarah Kurtz (UC Merced)
