Agrivoltaics

The funds will be part of the EU Covid-19 recovery package. Overall, the Italian government expects to deploy 2 GW of agrivoltaics and 2 GW through energy communities.

Representatives from 15 agricultural and solar businesses, research entities, and certification bodies in Germany have developed DIN SPEC 91434, a new set of proposed standards for agrivoltaics.

Researchers in the US ascertained that the partial shading provided by solar parks creates a microclimate that favors the abundant growth of more varied flowers and pollinators. They also found that partial shading increases bloom abundance by delaying bloom timing, increasing forage for pollinators during the hot and dry late season.

Lechwerke is testing two pilot systems close to existing solar parks. It also aims to build its first large-scale project.

Pine Gate Renewables has announced plans to deploy 9 MW of solar and 36 MWh of storage above a commercial cranberry bog.

The solar greenhouse was built by French developer Tenergie in 2017 and last year recorded a remarkable performance in terms of both agricultural ane electricity yield.

A 1.2 MWp installation featuring more than 4,500 solar panels has sheltered a berry crop from high temperatures and damp to strengthen the claims made by agrivoltaics companies that their systems can offer climate change mitigation as well as clean energy.

The German renewable energy developer has already identified two potential partners, a beekeeper and a sheep breeder, to exploit 20 hectares.

Researchers in Germany have stated that agrivoltaic projects are still considerably more expensive than ground-mounted PV plants. They found the agrivoltaic developers may incur higher costs during the approval process or due to design constraints. Furthermore, the use of special components such as modules, mounting systems and trackers may significantly increasing a project’s cost, especially if vertical plants are planned or the modules must be elevated to let the agricultural machinery operate underneath.

German energy company Steag wants to build three PV plants totaling 244 MW across several olive groves in the southern Italian region of Apulia. The unsubsidized agrivoltaic projects are expected to sell electricity through power purchase agreements. The distance between the rows of the olive grove and the photovoltaic system has been specifically designed both to avoid shadowing and allow the passage of the automatic machinery necessary for the cultivation of the olive trees.