Savills plc
Savills plc
01/24/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/24/2023 03:46
In Plain English: Agrivoltaics
Agrivoltaics (AV) is the dual use of land for agriculture and solar generation to maximise land use. Dual use solar farms are currently achieved through the co-location of livestock, including sheep grazing and solar generation; there is also research looking into dual use of crop farming and solar generation.
In agrivoltaic farming, the photovoltaic (PV) panels are elevated above the crops using frames to create a roof-like structure, configured to the farm's needs such as raising the frames higher for farming operations to continue normally.
AV typically is well suited to shade tolerant crops like grapes, tomatoes lettuce, and so on, although this is still being studied. It's been found that cereals and grains have far higher yield losses because they require a lot of sun and therefore a traditional PV panel is preferable.
Research conducted in France indicates the efficiency of agrivoltaic can increase global land productivity up to 73 per cent. Another agrivoltaic project, which was conducted by the Fraunhofer ISE, found that land use efficiency was over 60 per cent. The study had solar panels installed above the crops within the test area, covering 3,300 sq m of the farm and were elevated to allow for everyday farming activity to continue. The cost of the elevated solar modules was said to have been the same as that of a small roof system and researchers therefore declared the study a success.
What are the benefits?
- AV addresses land-use conflicts by removing competition for land
- Increases land-use productivity
- Reduces water use with added protection against evaporation from PV shading
- Increased solar yield plants lower soil temperature by evaporating water providing a small temperature regulation thus panels are cooled down (efficiency gains estimated to be +1-3 percent)
- Increases production for certain crops
- Provides revenue diversification opportunity
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Provides protection for crops in extreme weather like heavy rainfall or extreme heat waves
Agrivoltaic vs ground-mounted PV
AV has higher associated installation cost as well as higher capital expenditure (CAPEX) compared with traditional ground-mounted and vertical PV systems. This large installation cost is because this technology is new to market and not yet in mass production. While there is a higher associated CAPEX, this amount is recovered through the reduced operational expenditure with AV systems.
The PV modules have an increased solar efficiency and require less frequent maintenance due to the crops providing a natural cooling for the solar PV. The convective cooling and latent heat transfer of plants means they lower soil temperature by evaporating water, providing a marginal cooling effect to the panels. The impact of this is improved solar yield with scientists estimating annual yield improved between 1-3 per cent annually.
The ISE Fraunhofer German study on economic value of AV assumes the leasing rates align with the agricultural lease rates and that these are shared between the landowner and operator.
Where are commercial operations up and running?
Numerous agrivoltaic pilot projects have been launched successfully, and AV has been found to be successful and beneficial for certain crop types. Many of these projects are in their experimental phase and an optimal model for integrated farming and solar generation that can be duplicated and reproduced is yet to be identified.
AV provides joined up technology that supports energy generation and agriculture as the overall land-use efficiency increases.