Should a small town try a solar-powered garden?
Master of Public Health student Libby Meier tested how practical that alternative would be for Enfield, North Carolina.
On a steamy July morning, UNC Gillings Master of Public Health student Libby Meier packs supplies and makes the five-minute walk from Burkett Farm’s container barn toward a basketball court-sized solar panel in the next field over. She is joined by Kait Goalen, program director at Burkett Farm.
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
Burkett Farm, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, and founded in 2014, is a four-acre climate-smart agricultural site that grows produce and flowers using regenerative farming practices. The farm donates much of its harvest to community food access partners and works with local organizations to strengthen resilient food systems.
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
Meier is at Burkett Farm as a part of her Gillings MPH practicum experience about the agrivoltaics farming method. Agrivoltaics involves locating agricultural production, such as crops, livestock or pollinator habitats, underneath or between rows of solar panels. She will grow vegetables in both full sun and underneath the solar panel and collect data on each plot. She will also conduct a community needs assessment with the Town of Enfield in Halifax County, North Carolina, about using agrivoltaic methods in a community garden setting.
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
At the solar panel, Meier measures the height of the tomato plants growing under the panel and entering that data into a spreadsheet. She then repeats that step for the tomato plants in the full-sun beds. She records plant heights weekly to track growth and compare crops under the solar panels with those in full sun.
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
She repeats the steps for the basil and beans.
By keeping the bed layout and crop selection consistent, she can isolate the effects of shade and temperature differences created by the solar array and evaluate how agrivoltaics influences plant performance.
By collecting measurements in weekly growth rates, harvest weights and other data, she is consistent with the practicum’s stated goal: “evaluating whether small-scale agrivoltaics food production can serve as a viable and replicable component of community resilience hubs across North Carolina.”
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
Though there have been some equipment-related and flower pollination challenges along the way, the data collection has continued. “We’re constantly balancing scientific rigor with practical needs for teaching and community relevance,” Goalen says. “Whenever we intervene — pest management, soil amendments — we do it consistently across both plots to keep variables controlled.”
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
From left to right, Goalen and Meier walk away from a solar panel at Burkett Farm. (Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
The community needs assessment provides essential context for Enfield Energy Futures, which is working closely with Meier and Burkett Farm to shape the future agrivoltaics garden, as well as food and nutrition programming. The assessment draws from conversations and survey responses gathered at monthly town meetings with residents.
(Photo courtesy of UNC Gillings School of Public Health)
As Meier enters data into spreadsheets on her laptop, she reflects on her practicum thus far. “Agrivoltaics seems like a field I could enter, and this experience will be valuable when applying for jobs. I’m still exploring options — my nutrition coursework this upcoming academic year will open more doors — but this practicum has expanded my interests and my network.”
For her, the most meaningful part of the work is imagining what comes next. “I hope this project helps show that agrivoltaics isn’t just a technical model — it’s a community model,” Meier says. “If towns like Enfield can use solar-supported gardens to grow food, teach skills and strengthen local resilience, then agrivoltaics becomes a tool that supports both climate goals and everyday life. My hope is that more communities can adopt this model in ways that fit their needs and build long-term food and nutrition security.”
