{"id":199888,"date":"2022-11-10T14:30:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sma-sunny.com\/?p=199888"},"modified":"2022-11-10T17:14:29","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T16:14:29","slug":"agrivoltaics-combined-pv-power-production-and-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sma-sunny.com\/en\/agrivoltaics-combined-pv-power-production-and-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Agrivoltaics: Blue-green model for the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agrivoltaics is a blue-green glimmer of hope in an era of climate change. It refers to the simultaneous use of an area for agricultural production and the generation of electricity from photovoltaics. Until now, agricultural land and ground-based PV systems have mostly existed separately. Anyone who purposefully combines the two forms of land use can benefit from positive effects.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The math adds up: agrivoltaics makes for extremely efficient land use<\/h2>\n
\"Prof.<\/a>

Prof. Dr. Kerstin Wydra from the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences is researching the topic of Agri-PV: The dual use of arable land for food and solar power makes a significant contribution against global warming and to securing the food supply.
Photo: Th\u00fcringer Erneuerbare Energien Netzwerk (ThEEN) e.V.<\/p><\/div>\n

First, let\u2019s assume that mounting the PV panels takes up a maximum of 15% of an agrivoltaics area, or that it is too shady there for crops. Second, that the electricity yield will be about 20% lower due to the greater row spacing compared with a ground-based PV system. This adds up to 85% plus 80%, or 165% productivity overall. The extremely efficient use of land is the main argument in favor of agrivoltaics.<\/p>\n

Around the world, agriculture is struggling with extreme weather events such as heavy rain, increasing heat and hail. \u201cIn these cases, we can even use a PV system to protect the crops,\u201d explained Dr. Kerstin Wydra, professor of Plant Production and Climate Change at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. \u201cAgrivoltaics thus offers a huge opportunity as a strategy for adapting agriculture to the extremes of weather that are already occurring and those that are likely to occur in the future. Ultimately, the whole thing has an effect on the soil and biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a study<\/a>, she and colleagues investigated the potential of agrivoltaics for the German state of Thuringia. The result was that \u201cthe dual use of arable land for food and solar power can make a significant contribution toward halting the warming of our planet and securing the food supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solar biodiversity<\/h2>\n
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Research projects such as the modular arc system<\/a> show that agrivoltaics is now also being taken seriously as a prospect for the future in industry.
Source: GOLDBECK SOLAR GmbH<\/p><\/div>\n

Conventional ground-based PV systems are best located on low-quality soils, paved surfaces or surfaces that are difficult to access. The most important thing to bear in mind when setting up the modules is optimizing orientation to the sun. With agrivoltaics, the PV system can be based on the crop and can look very different, explained Dr. Kerstin Wydra.<\/p>\n

The possible applications are as wide-ranging as the technology. Photovoltaic systems are available as rigid structures that are angled toward the sun or are vertical (as with solar fa\u00e7ades), in the form of flexible thin-film PV modules or organic PV cells, in more or less transparent designs, and as tracking systems that automatically follow the position of the sun.<\/p>\n

For example, for an apple orchard where there have been trees for many years, a fixed canopy at a height of three meters is a good solution. On a poultry farm, where PV modules are intended to provide protection for the animals from the sun and birds of prey, they may be mounted only at waist height.<\/p>\n

For greenhouse crops, the conventional glass structure can be replaced in whole or in part by photovoltaic elements. The same applies to anti-hail nets and sheets for fruit and vegetable cultivation.<\/p>\n

Vertical PV elements between rows or as crop or pasture boundaries are typically bifacial, meaning that they absorb sunlight from both sides, thereby providing solar power at different times of the day.<\/p>\n

Controllable panels are ideal for optimizing power and crop yield. If the apples need a few days of sun to redden, the canopies can be folded out of the way. And it\u2019s not too great a leap to smart solar farming, where the photovoltaics adjust to approaching hailstorms with the help of meteorological data from the Internet.<\/p>\n

Agrivoltaics as an all-round solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agrivoltaics (or agriphotovoltaics) refers to the simultaneous use of agricultural land for food production and power generation using photovoltaics. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has been researching agrivoltaics<\/a> for decades and uses the term to mean systems on grassland, in arable farming and horticulture, but not for enclosed buildings or aquacultures. Our interviewees agreed with this definition.<\/p>\n

In addition to power generation, agrivoltaics provides additional benefits for practically every form of agricultural production, such as:<\/p>\n