He grew up on a chile farm in New Mexico and transformed traditional farming practices by using solar technology.
Kenneth Armijo, a principal R&D systems engineer and scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, first made waves in 2022 with his experiment in roasting chile using concentrated sunlight — an endeavor inspired by his roots in Sabinal, a farming village between Albuquerque and Socorro.
An episode of the New Mexico PBS cultural series “Colores!” will feature his story in “Harvesting the Sunshine, Conserving the Rio Grande.” The episode will be on air at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, on New Mexico PBS Channel 5.1. It will also be available for streaming on the PBS app.
Producer and director Tara Walch said she came to know of Armijo’s work while researching Lemitar chile peppers and stories on farming traditions in the Rio Grande Valley. “I’m always interested in farming practices and farming stories,” Walch said. “When I found out about Ken’s 2022 project and his new work with local farms, it was a no-brainer.”
The episode brings to the fore on an agrivoltaics research project at the Rio Grande Community Farm in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Agrivoltaics, combining solar energy production with agriculture, allows farmers to install solar panels while they grow crops beneath them.
Armijo’s innovation began with a simple observation from his family’s farm: berry bushes growing under tree shade often produced better yields.
That insight led him to test solar panels placed above crops to shield them from intense sunlight. Some panels can be raised or lowered to adjust light levels, while transparent panels allow full sunlight for crops that need it.
“With this innovation, it can even protect crops from hail,” Walch said. “He’s finding ways to innovate farming while preserving the culture he grew up in.”
Walch filmed the segment in August and September in two locations, Medanales and Los Ranchos. She said stories like Armijo’s show how communities can adapt through innovation rooted in tradition as the environment rapidly changes due to climate pressures.
“What fascinates me is people being creative and taking into account their cultural values,” Walch said. “Ken is a perfect example of the old and new worlds coming together to benefit the whole community.”