INFEWS/T2: Solar Solutions for Food, Energy and Water Systems (S2FEWS)

在未来几十年，人口的增加加上人均收入的增加和消费习惯的相关增加预计将对世界大部分地区的食品，能源和水（FEW）需求产生前所未有的压力，需要以最小的环境足迹实施FEW解决方案。虽然阳光是一种可以提供所需可持续解决方案的能源，但在大多数州和国家，其大规模使用将需要大量土地，包括农业用地，用于安装光伏（PV）面板。农业地区由于其广泛的分布和操作和维护需求的可达性而前景广阔，但光伏电池板结构阴影也会降低主要作物的产量。拟议的创新设计和在农场安装光伏电池板结构将保持急需的全面农业生产，同时引入新的水管理方法，以减少由于农田肥料沥滤和农田发电而造成的环境危害。该项目关于协调利用太阳能生产食物、能源和水的研究可以加速太阳能投资，实现更可持续的经济。在该项目中，研究与教育的整合将培养和共同指导学生掌握多学科技能，这些技能对于他们加入工作场所时开发复杂系统问题的创新解决方案至关重要，有助于美国制造业的领导地位。在这个项目中，提出了一种新的太阳光谱分解方法，用于粮食，能源和水资源管理，沿着一个科学和技术路径的纲要，使其能够使用。这一变革性系统将是高效的，主要利用太阳光谱的可见光部分进行作物光合作用，利用波长更长的红外光子进行太阳能电池发电。在这个新框架中，由传感器引导的光伏结构将积极参与农田的雨水收集和水管理，以减少氮肥和磷肥的环境足迹。光伏结构将被设计和建模，以操纵植物所需的光强度。这样的光伏结构将安装在普渡大学的农场;主要作物将种植;植物，土壤和大气数据将使用一系列传感器进行进一步分析。为了开发一个农场水管理框架，光伏电池板将被设计为收集雨水，以便更有效地在系统层面共同处理水和肥料。此外，还将合成材料，然后制造新的太阳能电池，这将最大限度地利用植物未使用的光子发电。关键的经济分析也将提供必要的执行指导。系统分析将在印第安纳州的农业背景下进行，重点是满足当地农田的电力和水净化需求，以及为邻近的农村和城市地区提供额外的电力。到项目结束时，普渡农场的一个小规模工作原型将展示集成FEW系统的关键技术和科学组件的解决方案。这样一个成功的示范将使农民和制造商的联盟，建立一个农场规模的版本，整个系统的测试在一个地区农场的全国传播。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Over the next few decades, increase in population coupled with rising per capita income and associated increase in consumption habits is expected to put unprecedented stress on demands for Food, Energy and Water (FEW) in large regions of the world, requiring FEW solutions implementable with minimal environmental footprint. While sunlight is an energy source that can provide the needed sustainable solutions, in most states and nations its large-scale use would demand extensive land areas, including agricultural land, for installing photovoltaic (PV) panels. Agricultural areas are promising due to their widespread distribution and accessibility for operation and maintenance needs, but PV panel structure shadows would also reduce yield of major crops. The proposed innovative design and installation of PV panel structures on farms will maintain greatly-needed full agricultural production, while introducing both a new water management approach to reduce environmental harm due to leaching of farmland fertilizers and the generation of electricity from farmland areas. The project's research on harmonious use of solar energy for food, energy, and water could accelerate solar energy investments and enable a more sustainable economy. The integration of research with education in the project will train and co-mentor students in multi-disciplinary skills essential for developing innovative solutions to complex systems problems as they join the workplace, contributing to U.S. manufacturing leadership. In this project, a novel solar spectrum unbundling approach for food, energy, and water management is proposed, along with an outline of a scientific and technical path to enable its use. This transformative system will be highly efficient, using the visible part of the solar spectrum primarily for crop photosynthesis, and longer-wavelength infrared photons for electricity generation with solar cells. In this new framework, PV structures guided by sensors will participate actively in rainwater collection and water management on a farmland to reduce the environmental footprint of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers. The PV structures will be designed and modeled to manipulate light intensities needed by the plants. Such PV structures will be installed at Purdue's farm; major crops will be grown; and plant, soil and atmospheric data will be collected using a range of sensors for further analysis. To develop a framework for farm water management, PV panels will be designed to collect rainwater for more effective system-level co-handling of water and fertilizers. Additionally, materials will be synthesized, and then new solar cells will be fabricated, which will maximize electricity generation from photons unused by plants. Key economic analysis will also provide essential implementation guidance. The systems analysis will be performed in the context of farming in the state of Indiana, with emphasis on meeting local electricity and water purification needs for farmland, as well as additional electricity to supply adjoining rural and urban areas. By the end of the project, a small-scale working prototype at Purdue's farm will demonstrate solutions for the key technical and scientific components of the integrated FEW system. Such a successful demonstration will then enable a coalition of farmers and manufacturers to build a farm-scale version of the entire system for testing on a regional farm for national dissemination.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.