Agrivoltaics

SolarPower Europe’s new guidelines for agrivoltaics are designed to support project developers, scientific institutions, and policymakers in developing agrivoltaic schemes. The PV trade body presents business cases from different European countries and shares best practices for O&M and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC).

SolarEdge and Israeli startup SolarGik have developed a new solar tracker system for agrivoltaics. It includes a mounting structure, inverters, power optimizers, trackers, and a monitoring platform.

BayWa r.e. and its Groenleven subsidiary are building an 8.7 MW agrivoltaics project to support raspberry cultivation, in one the largest projects of its kind in Europe. They expect to complete the project in the first quarter of 2024.

France’s GLHD uses AI tech for landscape integration through a tablet app that displays and visualizes fixed structures at agrivoltaic farms.

A new study has evaluated the development of agrivoltaics in India, analyzing the challenges and opportunities involved in scaling up such projects, and exploring their potential for commercialization.

A new study by the University of Hohenheim shows that shading from PV systems can improve agricultural yields, especially in dry periods, but additional research is needed.

The State Research Institute for Viticulture and Pomiculture (LVWO) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, has started generating electricity and cultivating berries in a pilot plant. Separately, a project combining agrivoltaics with apple cultivation in Austria has also shown promising initial results.

The Italian cabinet has approved 13 agrivoltaic projects in the southern regions of Apulia and Basilicata.

Japanese policymakers are now looking at rooftop solar panels as land is scarce in the country and agrivoltaics, building-integrated PV (BIPV), and floating solar are still in their infancy, reports Mark Hutchins.

A research team has studied the potential of using concentrating photovoltaics in agriculture and found that it offers advantages in terms of energy yield and de-shading compared to conventional photovoltaics. However, the higher costs must be carefully considered.