Agrivoltaics

New research from the United States has shown the numerous advantages of combining lamb grazing with solar power production. The researchers found, in particular, that the overall return from grazing was the same in both solar pastures and open pasture fields with no PV panels.

Developed by Swedish scientists, the proposed algorithm is said to calculate a project’s ideal design by combining climatological data with figures on expected solar power generation, shading distribution, water for irrigation, and agricultural yield. Its creators spoke with pv magazine about the key parameters that the model seeks to determine, one of which is the optimal distance between the solar module rows depending on the kind of crop.

The funds will be part of the EU Covid-19 recovery package. Overall, the Italian government expects to deploy 2 GW of agrivoltaics and 2 GW through energy communities.

Representatives from 15 agricultural and solar businesses, research entities, and certification bodies in Germany have developed DIN SPEC 91434, a new set of proposed standards for agrivoltaics.

Researchers in the US ascertained that the partial shading provided by solar parks creates a microclimate that favors the abundant growth of more varied flowers and pollinators. They also found that partial shading increases bloom abundance by delaying bloom timing, increasing forage for pollinators during the hot and dry late season.

Lechwerke is testing two pilot systems close to existing solar parks. It also aims to build its first large-scale project.

Pine Gate Renewables has announced plans to deploy 9 MW of solar and 36 MWh of storage above a commercial cranberry bog.

The solar greenhouse was built by French developer Tenergie in 2017 and last year recorded a remarkable performance in terms of both agricultural ane electricity yield.

A 1.2 MWp installation featuring more than 4,500 solar panels has sheltered a berry crop from high temperatures and damp to strengthen the claims made by agrivoltaics companies that their systems can offer climate change mitigation as well as clean energy.

The German renewable energy developer has already identified two potential partners, a beekeeper and a sheep breeder, to exploit 20 hectares.