From pv magazine France
French solar developer Technique Solaire has signed a partnership with the National Institute of Agronomic Research INRAE of Nouzilly (Poultry Experimental Unit) and Magneraud (Experimental Unit of Alternative Poultry Farming Systems) to determine the impact of photovoltaic panels on outdoor areas for poultry.
Since 2017, the company has been developing photovoltaic aviaries with game and poultry breeders. These consist of a succession of PV shelters, linked together by nets.
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In addition to lower installation costs, the aviaries offer the advantage of integrating outdoor chicken coops in the management of poultry farming of species such as broilers and ducks. Technique Solaire said the use of outdoor coops for birds is not common, with many birds never leaving the breeding buildings. It said that several studies have demonstrated that birds prefer shady outdoor runs, with trees, fences or panels, however.
With INRAE, Technique Solaire is seeking to analyze and characterize the evolution of animal behavior in the presence of these routes. According to the developer, the first observations made under an operating aviary in Lot-et-Garonne are encouraging, with more frequent, longer and more distant outings from the breeding building.
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There is a large market in Europe for chicken meat from birds raised in the open. See for instance the premium AOC “poulet de Bresse” in France, and the slightly less posh but still tasty chicken from the Loué area. Consumers like me go for such products on grounds of taste and animal welfare. With agrivoltaics (or should we say avivoltaics?) there will soon be a third motive of sustainability.
In Spain, the second grade of Iberian ham, behind the very expensive “bellota” from pigs fed on acorns falling picturesquely from trees, is “cebo” where the animals still get acorns, but in open.air pens. I daresay somebody is trying out a porcivoltaic installation. One problem is that pigs are large, strong animals that unlike chickens uproot things, such as power cables. But these could be strung high up.