In The NoCo

How NREL scientists developed solar panels that help grow bigger, tastier crops

By In The NoCo,

Published July 3, 2025 at 5:40 AM MDT

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Tomato plants grow inside a greenhouse. — Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have designed a translucent solar panel translucent solar panel that allows certain frequencies of light to pass through it. When tomatoes were grown underneath they grew taller and faster than those grown in full sun.

A solar panel that collects energy from the sun – while also helping farmers grow bigger, tastier tomatoes and other crops.

A team of scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden (NREL) say that’s exactly what they’ve developed. And this new type of solar panel could lead to better produce and more widespread solar power generation.

Some farmers already place solar panels on their land and grow crops alongside them. It’s a practice called agrivoltaics.

But the new panels designed by NREL are translucent – meaning they allow certain frequencies of light to pass through and reach crops planted beneath the panels. In fact, NREL scientists used the solar panels as the roof and walls of a greenhouse during their experiments.

Bryon Larson is NREL’s principal researcher on this study. He talked with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole about the solar panels and how they might be used in the future.

Half the tomato plants were grown under traditional greenhouse conditions and half were grown under the solar cells.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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