Agrophotovoltaic systems: applications, challenges, and opportunities. A review

Abstract

The expansion of renewable energies aims at meeting the global energy demand while replacing fossil fuels. However, it requires large areas of land. At the same time, food security is threatened by the impacts of climate change and a growing world population. This has led to increasing competition for limited land resources. In this context, the combination of photovoltaics and plant productionoften referred to as agrophotovoltaic (APV) or agrivoltaic systemshas been suggested as an opportunity for the synergistic combination of renewable energy and food production. Although this technology has already been applied in various commercial projects, its practicability and impact on crop production have hardly been investigated. In this review, we give a short summary of the current state of the art and prospective opportunities for the application of APV systems. In addition, we discuss microclimatic alterations and the resulting impacts of APV on crop production. Our main findings are that (1) crop cultivation underneath APV can lead to declining crop yields as solar radiation is expected to be reduced by about one third underneath the panels. However, microclimatic heterogeneities and their impact on crop yields are missing reference and thus, remain uncertain. (2) Through combined energy and crop production, APV can increase land productivity by up to 70%. (3) Given the impacts of climate change and conditions in arid climates, potential benefits are likely for crop production through additional shading and observed improvements of water productivity. (4) In addition, APV enhances the economic value of farming and can contribute to decentralized, off-grid electrification in developing and rural areas, thus further improving agricultural productivity. As such, APV can be a valuable technical approach for more sustainable agriculture, helping to meet current and prospective needs of energy and food production and simultaneously sparing land resources.

Prospects of Bioenergy Cropping Systems for A More Social-Ecologically Sound Bioeconomy

“…Therefore, another climate change adaptation strategy that might be relevant for BCS on marginal agricultural land located in regions prone to increasing drought and heat events could be the use of agro-photovoltaic (APV) systems [252,253]. The idea is to shade the ground area with photovoltaic panels, which generate electricity and reduce the soil evaporation potential.…”

“…The idea is to shade the ground area with photovoltaic panels, which generate electricity and reduce the soil evaporation potential. A lower evaporation may lead to a higher soil moisture, and thus to a better water use efficiency by the bioenergy crops [252]. Consequently, both the erosion potential of, and the heat stress for bioenergy crops could be reduced underneath APV systems.…”

“…Consequently, both the erosion potential of, and the heat stress for bioenergy crops could be reduced underneath APV systems. However, the construction costs for APV systems are very high [252]. Therefore, which bioenergy cropping system to integrate to the APV system requires careful consideration.…”

The “PV Rooftop Garden”: Providing Recreational Green Roofs and Renewable Energy as a Multifunctional System within One Surface Area

“…To gain a better understanding of the effects of PV shading on plants, studies related to agro-photovoltaics and studies in the context of shading in greenhouses were analyzed. One review study stated that shading by PV panels will influence the harvest: this can lead to declining crop yields, but may also lead to harvest increases, depending on the species type and intensity of shading [26]. Similar results were found in studies on the effects of shade on agricultural production.…”

Ultrathin Nano-Absorbers in Photovoltaics: Prospects and Innovative Applications

“…The combined use of solar radiation for photovoltaic and photosynthetic energy conversion, termed agrivoltaics, was suggested by Goetzberger and Zastrow already in 1982 [39]. Recently, this field of research gained a lot of interest, and several concepts have been demonstrated and tested under environmental conditions [40,41]. The majority of these projects use evenly spaced lines of PV modules installed above agricultural areas.…”