Agrivoltaics

Sandbox Solar, a solar developer and US federal grant recipient, has released a beta version of its software modeling tool for agrivoltaic power plants. It supports the design and optimization of solar panels, as well as the crops underneath.

Enel Green Power says it has started working on the largest agrivoltaics plant in Italy. It will feature bifacial PV modules mounted on trackers. Olive trees will grow around the solar panel rows.

Dan French, executive producer of the Solar Farm Summit, told pv magazine USA that more than 500 farmers, manufacturers, and community solar developers likely attended the first US agrivoltaics conference in Chicago last week.

The global agrivoltaics market is pegged at a 10.1% annual growth rate, according to a research note by Allied Analytics.

French developer Valeco has deployed an agrivoltaic installation on a fodder field and has found out it offers benefits for the quality and quantity of the crop, as well as for sheep grazing under the solar panels.

Technique Solaire plans to analyze animal behavior in outdoor poultry farms covered with solar panels linked by nets. The setup could be potentially beneficial for the birds and the quality of their meat.

Cornell University researchers have discovered that soybeans planted beneath 3.9-meter-high solar modules can positively affect panel temperatures and the microclimates of farms.

Nina Hojnik, the director of the Slovenian Photovoltaic Association, speaks to pv magazine about new provisions for large-scale solar in Slovenia. She discusses several regulatory obstacles to developing agrivoltaics, as well as plans to phase out net metering for rooftop PV.

US researchers are studying how agrivoltaic systems mounted on single-axis trackers affect rainfall and light redistribution at a 1.2 MW installation on grassland in Boulder, Colorado.

Scientists in Spain have developed a transparent solar cell with an average visible transmittance of up to 66%. The device could be used for ubiquitous device functionalization, including indoor PV and agrivoltaics.