Fertilizer Is Seemingly Plucked From Thin Air By This Army Of Solar Panels

Solar power is one method of generating energy that comes at less cost to the planet than burning fossil fuels. But now, there’s a new technology that might take its benefits even further. 

Nitricity is a firm using solar panels to take nitrogen from the air and convert it into nitric acid, which is one of the most important ingredients in fertilizer. This would then contribute to the growth of the crops that people eat regularly. 

Only air, water, and electricity are required in this process. Nitricity claims that its system can be connected directly to other farm hardware. 

The company’s pilot project resides on a farm in Fresno, California. Paired with a sub-surface-irrigation system, the fertilizer is used for processing tomatoes. pv magazine reports that this “initial” system included 16 solar panels “that outputted 75-85 V with a maximum power of 2.4 kW.”

“This solar-fertilizer technology can enable an irrigation system to now provide and inject its own nitrogen fertilizer compounds,” Nitricity details. It has also made an experimental report available to read on its website, which states the project’s progress. 

Conventional nitrogen fertilizer, although widely used, comes at a high cost to farmers. Its value chain is “highly centralized” while requiring hazardous transport methods. Plus, it contributes around 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, per a news release. 

“Applying nitrogen to the ground does not require emitting carbon to the sky,” Nico Pinkowski, CEO of Nitricity, says. 

“Nitricity creates fertilizers that are customized for fields and farmers, rather than optimized for factories and freight. Electrifying and decentralizing fertilizer production will provide farmers a better product, reduce emissions and improve safety. It’s as simple as that.”

The firm states that its “breakthrough process” will be capable of eliminating “1 gigaton of carbon equivalent per year from carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.”

A special thank you to @dcameron177 for believing in this technology. Terranova Ranch is home to our inaugural commercial pilot system. 🌱 pic.twitter.com/GThmgjKfBX

— Nitricity (@NitricityInc) October 26, 2021

[via pv magazine and Nitricity via Business Wire, image via Nitricity]