Colorado vineyard tests solar rows that switch between fixed and sun-tracking modes above grapevines in a 2026 research plot

An important and viable region for growing grapes is Grand Junction, Colorado, which is prone to all kinds of climatic problems for the region—frosts, scorching heat, and droughts can happen in the same season. However, there is something special that towers above the vines in the Western Colorado Research Center, run by Colorado State University: arrays of solar panels—some fixed and some mobile.

There are sensors in the ground; there are cameras. Data are being collected from both the shaded and uncovered plots.

This is the first vitivoltaic research array ever constructed in the United States—and this array is not set up just to measure the power production potential of the vineyards.

The head of the project is State Viticulturist Horst Caspari and postdoc Analissa Sarno, who designed instrumented rows to give an idea about life under the panels.

A vineyard unlike any other in America

The Western Colorado Research Center under Colorado State University is located in Grand Junction, which is an agricultural center. Scientists have been looking into ways of growing crops here due to the difficult climate. Grand Junction gets about 300 sunny days every year. Nevertheless, the climate here is irregular, as the valley faces frosting during spring, scorching heat during summer, and drought. The viticulturists in this place face no one type of stress, but all of them together in one season.

This kind of climate makes Grand Junction unique when growing wine grapes; thus, this place becomes a great lab where scientists can study wine grapes when faced with stress factors. This region has been chosen to host the first vitivoltaics research array in America, which was founded in January 2026.

Timing is everything. “Weather whiplash,” the term scientists use to describe the sudden onset of frost, heat, and drought, is occurring at an extreme level in specialty crop regions throughout the unpredictable 2026 growing season. There is no need for Grand Junction to create a disaster scenario. They’re living it.

Fixed panels, tracking panels—and a vineyard caught in between

The panels do not represent one monolithic system. Rather, they represent a kind of counterpoint. In one row, there are traditional solar panels installed at an inclined angle. In another row, there is dynamic tracking that changes the angle of inclination of the panels during the course of the day. Both have sensors that measure the soil moisture, soil temperature, and the speed of the air flow—above the panels and above the unsheltered control area. 

The difference between tracking and fixed panels goes beyond their energy production capacity; it also relates to the shadows they cast. Since the fixed panel casts a fixed shadow while the moving panel creates a shifting one, what will the effect on the grapes be? 

The head of the project is State Viticulturist Horst Caspari and postdoc Analissa Sarno, who designed instrumented rows to give an idea about life under the panels.

What the data is already showing

Live data regarding the amount of energy produced per month and total since January 2026 has been coming in. The CSU team tracks yield by comparing energy generated from fixed-tilt rows and dynamic tracking rows in relation to energy generated by a rooftop baseline solar. Comparisons help determine how the agricultural environment affects performance in addition to the configuration of panels.

So far there have been two sunny days. The first one was May 11, when operations used standard tracking. The second was July 11, when dynamic tracking was used. 

The key metric is the gap between the energy potential and actual production. Losses will be experienced in energy production through dynamic tracking because of mechanical movement and misalignment. What is needed to be determined is what losses are associated with the dynamic tracking and if the microclimate that is created helps the vines below. 

Can solar panels do what smudge pots cannot?

The question lying at the heart of this project transcends kilowatt-hours. Not only do we seek an apparatus to generate electricity, but also one to provide resilience. And so because traditionally, smudge pots and wind machines have always been the apparatus that grape growers have relied upon when faced with frost damage, as they do help, but they cost a lot of money to buy and are difficult to operate in bad weather.

This idea has already been tested before. In a Tresserre, France, vineyard, solar glass panels were used to afford some frost protection.

From this trial is inspired our attempt to see if we can produce similar results from research-based vitivoltaic panels in some of the most challenging environments in the United States of America. If that happens, then the already installed panels will double up.

A blueprint that could travel the world

Success for this project would not only be an accomplishment for the research facility, but it would also prove the validity of the vitivoltaics concept under conditions that any wine-growing region around the world would not be envious of: frost danger, heat waves, and drought in the same season.

The potential applications extend well beyond Colorado. Drought-stressed wine regions in southern Europe, frost-prone orchards across Asia, and specialty crop farms wherever climate volatility is accelerating—all could draw on a replicable model built and tested in the Grand Valley. The Colorado State University approach, with its side-by-side comparison of fixed and tracking configurations and its rigorous sensor network, offers something rare: a methodology, not just a result.

However, it is just a step forward. Caspari and Sarno are just at the beginning of the experiments. The vines grow. Sensors collect data. Panels either track or do not move according to each specific row. Data that all these devices will accumulate during the upcoming seasons will decide if this secluded piece of western Colorado will become the example for specialty crop growers worldwide to follow through the following rounds of weather swings.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.