Life Cycle Assessment of an Exemplary Agrivoltaic System in Thuringia (Germany)

Abstract

Agrivoltaic systems create numerous synergies between the aspects of agriculture, climate protection, climate change adaptation, land use and energy. For this reason, the present study examined the environmental impact of this technology using the life cycle assessment approach. Three scenarios were developed: An APV scenario with combined production of electricity and potatoes on one field (scenario 1), a PV scenario with separate production of PV electricity and potatoes (scenario 2) and a scenario in which electricity production is covered by the German electricity mix (scenario 3). All three scenarios showed the same output in energy production (500.13 kWp) and in potato production (307.87 dt/a or 9,236 dt/30 years). The results show that APV systems have similar impacts as open-space PV systems and achieve significantly better performances than the German electricity mix. In half of the impact categories examined, the environmental impacts were caused by potato production, in the other half by electricity production. Due to current developments in system design and solar module development, it can be expected that the life cycle impact of APV systems will continue to improve in the future.