A group of researchers in Spain has conducted a survey among wine tourists to assess their perception and social acceptance of agrivoltaic installations deployed in vineyards. The results show that a large majority of respondents do not view the solar modules as conflicting with the wine-growing landscape.
“Our findings are mainly conclusive for vineyards, but the tendencies could be extrapolated to other crops where stakeholders are very sensitive to landscape visual impacts,” the research's lead author, Javier Padilla Martínez, told pv magazine. “The findings apply mainly to trellis integrated structures, a low height solution that we propose and compare with higher existing ones.”
The survey focused on Spain’s Murcia region, where viticulture spans 20,918 hectares of vineyards, producing 64,188 tonnes of grapes and 757,484 hectoliters of wine annually, generating approximately €157 million ($186.3 million) in export revenue. The study considered four low-height, vertically integrated agrivoltaic configurations in trellis vineyards, with panel heights ranging from 1.8 m to 2.4 m.
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Wine tourists participated in guided tours of pilot installations, where agrivoltaic systems and their potential benefits and drawbacks were explained. Participants subsequently completed a survey.
A structured, anonymous questionnaire was designed using Google Forms. The researchers said the questionnaire was validated by the Experimental Research Ethics Committee of the Responsible Research Office at Miguel Hernández University, the public research body involved in this phase, in compliance with regulations governing experimental procedures. Authorization code NA.IAN.240309 ensured the study was conducted within an ethical, safe, and legal framework.
The survey asked respondents about the importance of photovoltaic energy, their support for agrivoltaics in vineyards, land-use preferences, preferred system configurations, perceptions of landscape integration after site visits, potential benefits and drawbacks of vineyard agrivoltaic implementation, environmental awareness as measured by willingness to pay for sustainably certified wine, and their personal and socio-demographic characteristics.
The sample included 238 respondents aged over 18 who resided in the Murcia region. No statistically significant differences were found for age, income, or place of residence. However, the researchers noted statistically significant differences in gender, educational level, and environmental awareness. Around 94% of respondents supported integrating solar panels within vineyard trellises.
The study found a broadly positive social perception of agrivoltaic systems, particularly in vineyard settings in the Murcia region. The survey revealed substantial consensus on the importance of solar energy generation on agricultural land, and a clear majority supported combining energy and agricultural uses on the same plot, confirming high acceptance of agrivoltaics as a dual-use land model.
“The results of this study indicate a broadly positive social perception of the implementation of AVS, particularly within vineyard settings in the Murcia Region of southern Spain,” the research team explained. “A substantial consensus has been identified among the surveyed population regarding the significance of solar energy generation on agricultural land. In addition, a clear majority of respondents expressed support for integrating energy and agricultural uses on the same plot, thereby confirming a high level of acceptance of agrivoltaics as a dual-use land model.”
The results of the survey were presented in “Assessing the social perception of agrivoltaic systems in vineyards. A case study of an integrated trellis-based configuration in South-eastern Spain,” published in Renewable Energy Focus. The research team included academics from the Technical University of Cartagena and Miguel Hernández University of Elche.
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