ALSS 301 - ACADEMIC LITERACY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES FOR

ENGINEERING
ASSIGNMENT 1
RESEARCH PROPOSAL

SENEO MOSIME 19000376 Industrial and Manufacturing

PAKO OTENG 19000839 Electrical and Electronics

BAKGOTLA KOTI 19000862 Mechanical and Energy

LETLHABILE MOGANANA 19000859 Mechanical and Energy

Received and checked by: Nkwe, Erence <nkwee@biust.ac.bw>

Contents
RESEARCH TOPIC....................................................................................................................................3
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.......................................................................................................3
RATIONALE..........................................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES........................................................................................................................5
RESEARCH QUESTIONS.........................................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................................6
METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................................................8
RESEARCH DESIGN.................................................................................................................................8
DATA ANALYSIS.....................................................................................................................................9
BUDGET AND TIMELINE......................................................................................................................10
Project Schedule....................................................................................................................................10
Gantt chart.............................................................................................................................................11
Project Budget.......................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................12

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RESEARCH TOPIC
Development of a sustainable solar farm to reduce pollution and the cost of farming.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The development and setup of a solar farm is as efficient and effective as possible. As of recent,
farmers are unable to keep up with using electricity and fuel for farming as the fuel prices keep
escalating hence the need for solar farms. On top of that, continuous use of fossil fuels as a
source of energy leads to pollution and an increase in carbon footprint which may result in global
warming. To reduce pollution and the cost of farming, a solar farm should be developed and
setup in Botswana. Solar farms provide energy without causing pollution as compared to fossil
fuels. This is because solar farms do not emit harmful gases like carbon dioxide and methane.
They will benefit the entire community or even a country as they provide clean energy for
everyone. Solar farms are reliable and cheap once installed, this is because they source their
energy mainly from the sun which is free. This, therefore, means there will also be no power
interruptions as the sun is reliable and efficient. Solar farms are important as they can be still be
used for growing crops and grazing livestock because they maintain soil quality and contribute to
the biodiversity of the land. Furthermore, they are reliable because the sun is a non-renewable
resource and it is not going anywhere in the foreseeable future.

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RATIONALE
A solar farm is an area of land in which a large number of solar panels are setup in order to
generate electricity. This study is therefore intended to provide and evaluate both benefits and or
limitations of using solar farms. That is it stresses the effect of a solar farm in the community and
how it reduces pollution. Solar farms do not need to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity
which means they do not emit harmful gases, hence significantly reducing air pollution. It
continues to analyze how cost-effective solar farms are. Even though solar farms are expensive
to install, they are a hefty investment upfront because they run at low monthly cost. Furthermore,
this study aims to investigate the benefits of solar farms in farming. Solar farms helps maintain
soil quality and contribute to the biodiversity of the land because the land that has been used for
solar farms can be used for growing crops and grazing livestock. Moreover it is intended to
assess the knowledge regarding importance or relevance of solar farms in the community. Solar
farms helps reduce our dependence in non-renewable energy sources. This is great because then
more and more of our power will not be generated from fossil fuels which create a lot of
pollutants that negatively impact our environment. Lastly, it intends to investigate the reliability
of solar farms as sources of energy. When using solar farms, there are no power interruptions
because solar is a very reliable source of energy. With the new version of solar panels that rely
on light instead of sunshine, power provision is assured even on rainy days making solar farms
convenient.

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The primary aim of this study is to investigate the role that solar farms play in reducing pollution
as well as the cost of farming. This will be achieved through the following objectives;

1. Explaining /defining what a solar farm is.

2. Reviewing the present knowledge of solar farms
3. Critically analyzing how solar farms reduce pollution.
4. Investigating the benefits of solar farms to the environment.
5. Analyzing the cost-effectiveness of solar farms.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is a solar farm?
2. What does recent literature say about solar farms?
3. How do solar farms help in reducing pollution?
4. Why and how are solar farms of relevance to the environment?
5. What is the cost-effectiveness of solar farms?

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LITERATURE REVIEW
This paper examines the need for using solar panels to develop a sustainable solar farm in
Botswana. The authors find that solar farms are the most direct way to reduce carbon emissions
that contribute to global warming, raising questions as to how pollution can be reduced in
farming. In other words, we try to emancipate the question of how to practice large-scale farming
without having to use fossil fuels (petrol, diesel). It was also found out that the use of solar farms
helps to mitigate climate change as well as carbon footprint.

Previous studies have been conducted in relation to this topic. The existing literature on how a
sustainable solar farm can reduce pollution and the importance of solar power to the environment
are reviewed in this section.

Benefits of installing panels for the environment;

Mitigates climate change; overall installing a solar panel system (solar farm) helps reduce
climate change as well as carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power
sector accounted for 34% of total US CO 2 emissions with the vast majority coming from fuel
combustion. In 2017 alone, the electric power sector that includes coal, natural gas and
petroleum generated 1.743 million metric tonnes of CO2 while the geothermal segment generated
less than 0.5 million metric tons hence installing solar panels help the environment today and in
the future. (Kuznia, 2019).

More recent studies on solar energy indicates that using solar farms we are able to reduce air
pollution. As already stated, generation of electricity from fossil fuels can generate harmful
carbon dioxide and methane gases that lower the quality of the air we breathe which can lead to
health complications. Therefore, using the sun to generate more and more of our power means
less harmful emissions from burning fossil fuels as solar panels do not produce harmful
emissions. (Lane, 2020)

The research in US showed that use of solar power reduces dependence on Non-renewable
energy sources. Solar helps reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy such as
fossil fuels. This is great because those non-renewable resources create a lot of pollutants that
negatively impact our air quality. Furthermore non-renewable resources will eventually run out
unlike the sun that is predicted to be there for a foreseeable future. (Smith, 2018).

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Solar farms helps maintain soil quality and contribute to the biodiversity of the land. This is
because they can still be used to farm crops and graze livestock. Studies in 2018 and 2019 have
shown that it is beneficial to co-locate croplands and solar farms in a practice known as agro-
voltaics. If down the road, the land owner wants to revert their land to solely agricultural use, this
can be accomplished easily. On top of that, Oregon State University researchers have found that
it is actually beneficial to grow crops under solar panels as these shaded areas were “significantly
more water-efficient” and maintained moisture in areas that would normally be dried out by the
sun. They have even successfully grown aloe vera, tomatoes, biogas maize, pasture grass and
lettuce.

Lastly, when using solar power, there are no power interruptions. This is because solar is a very
reliable source of energy among other renewable sources. Technology has made it better because
unlike the older solar panels that relied on sunshine, the improved version relies on light,
assuring power on both rainy and sunny days making solar farms a convenient and efficient
option. (Donaldson, 2018).

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METHODOLOGY
Qualitative research design was used in the study of which individual interviews were conducted
with farmers to understand the impact of solar farms on farming. The one on one interviews were
conducted using transcripts at Spring farm. The managers of the spring farm were set down on a
one on one interview where they highlighted that the main aim was not only to reduce costs but
also to control the factors affecting crops and animals negatively. They stated that thousands of
dollars were spent on installing and fixing the solar power system with a total cost of 219,701
dollars including additional costs from different organizations. Additionally they highly
recommended that farmers conduct energy audit to start reaping benefits of cost-effective and
improved energy efficiency.

In order to gain more information a set of questionnaires were given out to a group of farmers in
order to give them freedom of writing down their opinions honestly and openly. The
questionnaires were collected and it was clear that the main aim for energy conservation
project(solar farm) was to reduce negative factors affecting farming such as pollution which can
cause break out of diseases in both crops and animals [CITATION luc16 \l 1033 ].

Lastly, a survey was conducted based on previous studies as a form of evaluating and comparing
with previous information on the development of solar farms. The study was conducted at the
Black star farms as they are known for their unique wine and culinary destination located near
Suttons Bay in Michigan. In 2016 and 2017 powering Michigan agriculture conference, farmers
were asked to categorize the factors they would use to put in effect an energy conservational
project, and many famers completed the energy conservation project and Black Star farm stood
out the most using the solar farm. Throughout this experiment it was discovered that the system
produces excess electricity for farm use for a day, hence the excess production is piled up that
some of the electricity was sold and was stored for future use. This also resulted in the farm
selling 30000-35000 cases of wine yearly which is 20% more than usual without the solar
farm[ CITATION MCh17 \l 1033 ].

RESEARCH DESIGN
An article was sourced online where the writer sought in-depth to understand the importance of
adapting the use of solar panels to make a solar farm. A sample was collected from the Michigan

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to get their perceptions of the impact of a solar farm on pollution and farming. Six farmers were
randomly selected and were privately interviewed with an aid of a tape-recorder, and their
consent to do so. Only 4 participants were able to participate while the other two could not make
it to the interviews since one was ill and the other was running late to arrive to the agreed place.
Taking a duration of a week to complete the interviews, data collected from the 3 farmers was
adequate enough to give meaningful results. The participants were well informed while the other
participant could not answer the questions because they did not understand the meanings of a
solar farm. While the data was analyzed the ethical standards were taken into consideration as
the respondents were well informed in time what the questions were about and steps to be taken
in the research.

Limitations of the study included that participants might not give honest answers based on their
experience but rather tell out what the researcher wants to hear because they were given
questions before the interviews began and is encouraged that programs must be implemented for
farmers to learn about the new technical ways of conserving energy in agriculture. The bad
weather conditions were cause of the other participant running late and lack of enough
knowledge was a barrier since more time was spent explaining to the participants.

DATA ANALYSIS
Data was analyzed not only through thematic analysis but also through compiling and evaluating
the yes or no answers with additional explanation from the one to one interview that took place
with 4 participants using the following questions; 1. As a farmer is a solar farm necessary or not
for a farmer, 2. Do you agree that a solar farm is a barrier to farmers, 3. Do solar farms help
reduce pollution and cost of farming, 4. Does a solar farm yield more returns despite its
expensive installment and fixing and, 5. Is it a must that programs be put in to place for farmers
to gain more knowledge in farming?

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 THE DATA ANALYSIS CHART

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5 no
0 yes
1 2 3 4 5
QUESTIONS

BUDGET AND TIMELINE

Project Schedule
Description Duration Predecessor Start date End
(Days) date
Deciding on research topic 2 4 01-Oct 03-Oct
Rationale for the study 2 2 03-0ct 05-Oct
Making objectives and 3 1 05-Oct 08-Oct
questions
Literature review 4 2 08-Oct 12-Oct
Research design and 10 2 12-Oct 22-Oct
Methodology used
Data analysis 2 2 22-oct 24-oct
Budget and timeline 3 3 24-oct 27-oct
Referencing 3 3 27-Oct 30-Oct

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Gantt chart
1-Oct 6-Oct 11-Oct 16-Oct 21-Oct 26-Oct

Deciding on research topic

Rationale for the study

Making objectives and questions

Literature review

Research design and Methodology used

Data analysis

Budget and timeline

Referencing

Project Budget
Material
Units Cost
Task Particulars Total Budgeted
per
Number Cost Amount
unit(P)
(P)
1 Printing 30 2 60 100
questionnaire
papers
2 Travelling 6 42 100
expenses for
interview
3 Meal cost 6 15 90 150

4 Posting expenses 30 5 150 200

TOTAL 342 550

REFERENCES

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 1. Anon., 2019. ELGIN ENERGY. [Online]
Available at: https://www.elgin-energy.com/2019/04/02/case-study-11kw-solar-installation-on-
kilkenny-dairy-farm/

2. Charles, M., 2017. Michigan State University. [Online]

Available at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/solar_power_case_study_black_star_farms

3. Charles, M., 2017. Michigan State University. [Online]

Available at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/solar_power_case_study_black_star_farms

4. Elsevier Ltd, 2020. SCIENCE DIRECT. [Online]

Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X2030904X

5. Initiative, S. E. L. C. S., 2017. THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW OF SOLAR FARMS. [Online]

Available at: https://www.southernenvironment.org/wp-
content/uploads/legacy/words_docs/Solar_EnvReviewProcess_SitingSolar_Final.pdf

6. M.Charles, n.d. Michigan State University. [Online]

Available at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/solar_power_case_study_black_star_farms

7. pluschke, l., 2016. global alliance for climate-smart agriculture. [Online]

Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/bt437e/bt437e.pdf

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