Solar energy production, and thus photovoltaic (PV) installation, is on the rise in California. However, the land requirements pose a direct land conflict with agricultural land, as PV installations compete with, and often displace, existing agricultural land. Agrivoltaics, which collocate PV panels into agricultural crop production, have been proposed as a solution. Agrivoltaics can provide multiple additive and synergistic benefits for crop production, such as reduced drought stress, water conservation, increased food production, as well as preserving agricultural land while increasing solar energy production. However, there is limited research on agrivoltaic suitability and potential in California. This study assesses California’s agricultural land suitability for agrivoltaic integration using geospatial analysis of five suitability criteria: 1) crop type, 2) farmland productivity, 3) water stress, 4) insolation, and 5) proximity to electric substations. I found that there are significant areas of agricultural land, specifically the southern Central Valley, Central Coast and southern California, with high agrivoltaic suitability potential. Fresno, Tulare, Kern, Kings, Riverside and Madera counties have the largest area of highly suitable land for agrivoltaic integration. Given the trend of farmland displacement and California’s climate goals, which require increased PV installations, agrivoltaic integration in these areas could be a dual-use solution to this land conflict by meeting increasing demand for solar energy without compromising agricultural land and productivity.

Coastal wetlands play a valuable role in sequestering carbon, but many have been degraded by human activities. Wetland restoration can help re-establish ecosystem function, including long term carbon storage, but the extent is somewhat unknown. One of the factors that determines how much carbon is stored in wetlands is plant tissue chemistry, specifically carbon content and C:N ratio. Plant carbon content directly translates to carbon stored in living biomass, and C:N is an indicator of decomposition rate, which can predict long term carbon storage. Taking C:N as an indicator of decomposition rate and thus longer term carbon storage, and carbon content as an indicator of carbon storage in living biomass, this study examines variation of C:N, carbon, and nitrogen in Salicornia pacifica (pickleweed), a common coastal wetland plant, between restored and established wetlands, as well as across elevations. I found that pickleweed from an established wetland has a higher carbon content than from a restored wetland. I did not find significant differences in pickleweed nitrogen content or C:N between established and restored wetlands, nor any significant differences in pickleweed carbon, nitrogen or C:N across elevations. These results mean that an established wetland contains more carbon in its biomass than its restored counterpart. This suggests that in the short term, established wetlands may store more carbon in their biomass than restored wetlands, but in the long term restored wetlands may store just as much or more carbon as they mature and catch up to their established counterparts.