“We have demonstrated that airflow modification can affect the crops if panels are low, especially when the tracking axis height is below 3 meters,” the research's corresponding author, Joseph Vernier, told pv magazine. “All panels modify the airflow, but only low panels will affect the crop below through the intermediate of airflow modification. Moreover, if sensors are not placed in locations that are representative of the power plant, applying literature-based formulas, originally developed for open-field conditions, will lead to inaccurate results.”
Vernier also explained that when the tracking axis height exceeds three meters, panels do not significantly affect the crops below through airflow. Below this threshold, however, changes in airflow can be as important as the reduction in solar radiation, strongly influencing energy, water, and gas exchanges – and therefore photosynthesis. “Developers should consider airflow modifications when dealing with low PV panels,” he went on to say. “Airflow modification definitely has an impact on agricultural yield, as it modifies evapotranspiration, which is key to assess wether or not agrivoltaic systems can improve agricultural yield.”
Join us on March 5 for the Dual harvest, double trouble: Tackling EPC barriers in agrivoltaics design pv magazine session in English language at KEY – The Energy Transition Expo in Rimini. Experts will share insights on current agrivoltaic technologies, key design choices and the main barriers to standardized, scalable dual‑use projects in Europe and Italy, including region‑specific EPC issues. Moreover, Venier said that airflow modification could also have an impact on energy generation. “Depending on the agrivoltaic system geometry, the convection around the panels will be different and can lead to variations in panel temperature,” he stated. “High panels, with a spacing between two consecutive rows of panels of approximately 10 meters can reduce the panel temperature by more than 3 C to 5 C compared to a traditional, ground-mounted, power plants, thus enhancing energy generation by 1% to 2%.” Presented in the paper “Consequences on energy and water exchanges of airflow modifications in agrivoltaic systems,” published in Energy Nexus, the research work was based on data collected from three sonic anemometers installed at the a 450 m2 agrivoltaic power plant and a 250 m2 control area where crops are cultivated in the absence of PV panels. The facility consists of four parallel rows of 18 bifacial 560 TOPCon PV modules provided by Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar, with the panels being mounted on trackers with tilt angles varying from -60° to 60°. The tracker rotation axis was set at 2.5 m and the distance between two consecutive tracker rotation axis is around 5.5 m. Image: Cerea, Energy Nexus, CC BY 4.0 Airflow measurements, averaged from their native resolution to 10-minute intervals, were conducted between November 2024 and March 2025 to ensure sampling under relatively stable surface roughness conditions. The analysis showed that soil moisture at the agrivoltaic power plant remained above field capacity until spring. In the control zone, moisture dropped rapidly during spring without limiting evapotranspiration, but by May, declines slowed despite higher radiation, indicating water stress. In the agrivoltaic section, inter-row moisture followed the control trend but was slightly higher, while beneath PV panels, variations were smaller due to shading. Rain runoff caused sharp increases in inter-row moisture, creating a two-scale heterogeneity between inter-row and under-panel areas. PV panels also affected airflow, generally reducing wind speed, friction velocity, and turbulence, though effects varied depending on wind direction and panel tilt. Overall, soil moisture and airflow impacts were highly localized within the agrivoltaic system. Simulations of wind speed and friction velocity for varying PV panel tilt angles closely matched field measurements, capturing reductions caused by the panels. Vertical profiles showed wind speed peaking above the panels and decreasing within the turbulent wake, while friction velocity exhibited two maxima, highlighting complex airflow patterns. Horizontal profiles revealed strong spatial heterogeneity, with inter-row airflow reaching up to twice the values beneath the panels, influenced by tilt and sensor location. “Evapotranspiration is influenced not only by the reduction in solar radiation but also by PV-panel-induced modifications of the airflow, which can lead to variations of 30%,” the researchers said. “Therefore, this study cautions against uncritical reliance on standard evapotranspiration estimation methods.” To validate their findings, the team carried out computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations that accounted for weather, plant layout, seasonality, and spatial variability. This confirmed the qualitative trends when panel height, tilt angle, or surface roughness are modified, even though quantitative outcomes may differ. The researchers explained that evapotranspiration should be assessed using direct measurements alongside CFD simulations to capture the effects of local conditions. Additionally, an agrivoltaic-specific evapotranspiration formulation is needed, accounting for panel geometry, airflow, radiation, and plant height. “However, the main challenge in developing such a formula lies in the dependencies of flow variables, radiation, and air temperature on APV geometry, spatial localization, and plant height,” they concluded. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.