Agrivoltaics

BlueWave has started working on three agrivoltaic community solar projects in Johnstown, New York, totaling 16 MW.

Researchers in Spain have created a new model to accurately estimate oil production and energy generation in agrivoltaic facilities built in hedgerow olive orchards. The proposed approach also allows the generation of mathematical equations estimating the influence of the system design variable.

The French energy company said its 100 kW agrivoltaic facility linked to cow farming in France’s Puy-de-Dôme region has not modified meadow functioning and animal behavior.

The 41st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) will draw to a close in Vienna this afternoon. Discussions at this year’s event leave little doubt that solar installations will continue to see impressive growth over the coming years. All week there has been plenty of optimism around new policy and technical innovations driving more solar into both electricity grids and urban and rural environments. For Europe, however, the lack of any meaningful capacity for manufacturing these promising technologies locally, puts something of a dampener on things.

T.Werk has developed two new mounting systems for agrivoltaics, featuring vertical arrays and high-mounted module solutions.

Italian winemaker Svolta Srl has deployed an agrivoltaic facility at its vineyard in Apulia, Italy. The PV array allowed the cultivation of vines that are normally not viable at this latitude.

A research paper from scientists at Swansea University describes their tool for analyzing thermodynamic limits of organic semiconductor-based photovoltaics (OPVs). One of the findings was that semi-transparent solar PV deployed in greenhouses may deliver comparable performance to conventional crystalline silicon PV.

Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) says it has received 643 bids totaling 1.7 GW in its first agrivoltaic tender. About 56% of the proposals have come from the country’s sunny southern regions.

French developer Green Lighthouse Développement says the French authorities have approved its 450 MW agrivoltaic project on 200 hectares of agricultural land in southwestern France.

Researchers from Purdue University have studied the impact of traditional photovoltaic systems and agrivoltaics deployed in corn croplands. They conclude agrivoltaics could offer a viable strategy to ease the current tradeoff between energy production, greenhouse gas emissions, food production and farm profitability.