Agrivoltaics

An international study finds that successful agrivoltaic projects require farm-specific, holistic co-design that integrates PV layout with agricultural mechanization from the earliest planning stages. Without proper alignment between machinery, crops, and PV systems, agrivoltaics risk major land loss, lower field efficiency, and higher operating costs, undermining farm profitability.

Norbut Solar Farms shifted from traditional US real estate development toward long-term land stewardship, generating renewable energy alongside crops and livestock.

Scientists have analyzed the competition between photovoltaics and agriculture for land use in Spain by studying 134 different crops in 15 regions. Using a real options framework, they found that falling solar PV costs and high irradiance in southern Spain could make solar more profitable than farming by the mid-2040s, highlighting growing land-use competition.

A first-of-its-kind agrivoltaic pilot in Fujairah, developed as part of a joint research project between the Fujairah Research Center and AE Solar, shows how solar panels above native plants can improve soil health, boost crop resilience, and optimize land use – demonstrating a scalable approach to tackling a desert region’s energy, food, and water challenges.

Scientists have simulated a residential building based on a real double-story house in the United Kingdom, combining rooftop agrivoltaics with onsite hydrogen production. Electricity generated by the solar system is used to produce hydrogen, which is then supplied to a hydrogen vehicle and insulated gasochromic smart windows.

Researchers in Italy have simulated an agrivoltaic-powered anaerobic digestion plant for biomethane production and optimized it across eight scenarios, using vertically mounted panels in some cases with one-axis tracker and with two-axis trackers in others.

Solar developer Energeia AS has been granted a license to build, own and operate a 46 MW agrivoltaic project in Norway, set to become the country’s largest solar site to date.

Researchers in the United States found that shading from agrivoltaic systems reduces grain numbers in both sorghum and soybean, but sorghum can partially compensate by increasing grain weight while soybean cannot. The study shows that sorghum and soybean respond differently due to their physiology, offering guidance for crop selection and management to minimize yield penalties in agrivoltaics.

Researchers at University of Jaén in Spain have demonstrated a semi-transparent crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic module with rear-side optical concentrators for agrivoltaics applications.

French agrivoltaic developers Calycé and CalyWattSol have formed Calycé Sun to pursue large farm-based solar projects, while crowdfunding platform Enerfip has agreed to acquire rival Lumo as domestic investment volumes continue to rise.