Agrivoltaics: Making the Most of Sunlight for Electricity and Agriculture

Agrivoltaics, blending agricultural and solar energy production on the same land, is innovative in promoting sustainable farming practices. It utilizes solar panels positioned above crops, enhancing land use efficiency, diminishing water needs, and creating new income avenues for farmers. Highlighted benefits of agri voltaics, supported by research, include significant reductions in water use by crops under solar panels and boosts in productivity and land efficiency. These agrivoltaic farming advantages align with sustainable farming goals, offering insights into how combining agriculture with renewable energy can foster environmental and economic benefits.

For more detailed insights, consider exploring comprehensive reviews and studies in MDPI journals and other reputable sources that discuss the efficacy and benefits of agri voltaics in modern agriculture.

The advantages of agrivoltaics have been demonstrated in several research studies. For example, a study conducted by researchers at Oregon State University found that shading provided by solar panels can reduce water requirements for crops by up to 60 percent while increasing their productivity by up to 30 percent. Another study published in the journal Nature Sustainability found that agrivoltaic systems can lead to a 60 percent increase in land productivity and up to 40 percent reduction in water use.

Learn more about Agrivoltaics with a comprehensive review from MDPI journals. 

A 2022 paper by Camporese and Abou Najm published in Earth’s Future highlights the need for revolutionary solutions for the water, energy, and food nexus. The authors propose light as a resource that can be allocated based on need, allowing for dual or multiple uses in the same location. This can lead to the advancement of several agricultural innovations, including agrivoltaics and hydroponics.

The authors discuss how advancing knowledge in plant response to different light spectra is necessary to design systems capable of achieving sustainable land management with optimum crop productivity and water use. This paper discusses the potential of agrivoltaics to improve land and water efficiencies and reduce heat stress on plants. The study highlights the use of wavelength-selective semi-transparent solar panels, which harvest some parts of the incoming light spectrum to generate energy, while allowing the parts of the spectrum that are useful for the plants to pass through.

The study suggests that the blue part of the spectrum is the most promising for energy production. The model presented in the study can be used to assess the suitability of different plant species for use in agrivoltaics, but more studies are needed to update and re-interpret the information. The study also highlights the importance of using an innovative stomatal conductance formula to model the photosynthesis and transpiration rates of plants in response to changing light spectra. Finally, the study concludes that there are a number of challenges that need to be addressed to confirm whether the preliminary conclusions can be applied in real-world agrivoltaic applications.

Economic Advantages

In terms of economic advantages, a study published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews found that agrivoltaic systems can provide farmers with a significant source of additional income. The study, which analyzed several case studies from around the world, found that agrivoltaic systems can increase the annual income of farmers by up to 60 percent.

One notable example of a successful agrivoltaics project is the Solar Crop project in Japan. This project involves the installation of solar panels above rice paddies, which has resulted in increased rice yields and reduced water requirements. The project has been so successful that it has been expanded to other parts of Japan.

Figure 1. Agrivoltaics in Japan.