Xiaonan Lu, associate professor in Purdue Polytechnic's School of Engineering Technology, will play a key leadership role in a new National Science Foundation (NSF) project designed to boost the resilience of rural communities across the Midwest.
The project, "Midwest Agrivoltaics for Resilient Communities (MARC)," is part of the NSF's Regional Resilience Innovation Incubator program. It aims to help rural areas withstand extreme weather events-such as hailstorms, heat waves and high winds-by combining agricultural production with solar energy generation, a practice known as agrivoltaics.
This Phase 1 grant positions the interdisciplinary Purdue team to compete for a Phase 2 grant worth up to $15 million over five years.
Lu will lead the project's efforts in resilience quantification and energy modeling for rural electric power grids. His work will specifically focus on understanding the impacts of distributed energy resources and microgrids, which are critical for maintaining power during severe weather events.
"When hail ruins a harvest, heat strains livestock, or windstorms cut electricity, farmers and their communities are hit hard," said Dan Chavas, the project's principal investigator and a professor of atmospheric science in Purdue's College of Science. "Our goal is to understand how agrivoltaics can make our nation's rural communities more resilient and prosperous."
While agrivoltaics offers a promising way to diversify farm income and increase energy production, adoption in the Midwest has been slow due to uncertainties about land use and performance. The incubator will bring together community members, stakeholders and experts to fill those knowledge gaps.
Lu joins a diverse team of experts from across Purdue University, including faculty from the College of Science, the College of Agriculture, and Purdue Extension. The project was coordinated by the Purdue Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF).
In addition to Lu's energy modeling work, the project will focus on community engagement, quantifying the benefits of extreme weather resilience and developing economic tools to help farmers and planners make informed decisions.
Additional information
