Scientists from the University of Turku in Finland have investigated the impact of solar module row spacing on power and crop yield in vertical bifacial agrivoltaic projects in high latitudes and have found that a distance of at least 8 m is necessary to ensure project viability.
In the study “Performance evaluation of high latitude agrivoltaic systems with vertically mounted bifacial panels,” published in Applied Energy, the researchers explained that their work addresses a gap in the literature related to high latitude APV systems.
“This work is computational, with a focus on the energy production and factors affecting agrivoltaic system, and is needed to motivate further experimental studies,” they stressed. “The goal for the irradiance study for crops was to estimate how to avoid excessive shading of crops in an agrivoltaic system.”
Using PVsyst, the research team modeled an east-west-oriented agrivoltaic system consisting of 15 module rows in a landscape configuration, with a ground clearance of 1 m and agricultural land between the rows. A 0.5 m clearance was maintained on each side of the panels to account for areas inaccessible to farming equipment. Row spacing ranging from 5 m to 100 m was simulated. Two additional south-facing systems were created for benchmarking.
Through these simulations, the researchers aimed to assess the extent of shading at high latitudes, evaluate how panel-induced shading affects power generation and crop yield, and determine how crop type influences albedo.
The analysis showed that, for vertical bifacial arrays, the distance between module rows should be between 11.3 m and 13.7 m to maintain 90% of the agricultural yield compared to reference fields without PV panels.
“Increasing row spacing has a significant impact on production, which rises rapidly up to 10 m; however, above 20 m, the gains begin to plateau,” the researchers noted. “At a separation of 8 m, crops received at least 75% of irradiation, which is expected to result in minimal impact compared with an unshaded scenario.”
Regarding crop selection and its influence on albedo, winter barley produced the highest energy output, while oats yielded the lowest. Shading caused the greatest power losses in the east–west configuration, particularly when tall objects such as trees were located near the array. Sites with south-facing shading were identified as the most suitable for vertical bifacial agrivoltaic systems.
A techno-economic analysis based on spot electricity prices further revealed that east-west-oriented vertical installations are more profitable than their south-facing counterparts, especially as the share of PV in the energy mix increases.
“This is because both energy prices and vertical bifacial PV system production exhibit two peaks—one in the morning and one in the evening,” the scientists concluded. “Moreover, prioritizing self-consumption can be the most viable approach, as self-consumed energy has a higher value than energy sold to the grid due to the absence of additional costs.”
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