Agrivoltaics

A group of researchers in the U.S. analyzed recent developments in efforts at dual land use projects, combining solar energy with habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Based on recent projects and studies, they offer a list of best practices for developing the habitats; and warn that without careful oversight the promising concept could amount to little more than greenwashing.

A webinar held to discuss the role of donor funding in the African energy sector was told the U.S. president has ambitious plans to ramp up donations to developing economies – provided he can get Congress on side.

Engie Green has joined forces with the associations France Nature Environnement and Apicluster to install beehives at several of its solar PV parks in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur region, in southern France.

The Spanish utility said agrivoltaic projects and solutions will be evaluated based on costs, technological maturity, crop diversity, and level of digitization among other things.

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.