With the impact of the climate crisis worsening, agricultural PV is becoming increasingly important because it makes agriculture more resilient while producing climate-friendly electricity on farmland. That was the consensus among the participants of the second Agrivoltaics Industry Forum, held in Madrid, Spain, on November 5–6. The forum was attended by around 200 people from the energy and agriculture industries and academia.
Key industry topics included EU-wide regulations for agricultural PV, ways to standardize and replicate successful projects, and technological advancements in software and hardware.
Dries Acke, Deputy CEO of SolarPower Europe, opened the forum with some impressive figures on the benefits of agricultural PV: up to 60 percent higher yields depending on the type of crop, 20 to 30 percent boost in water retention, 7 percent higher soil temperatures during cold periods and 6 degrees Celsius lower soil temperatures during hot periods. He also emphasized the importance of agricultural PV for the acceptance of the continued expansion of solar energy in Europe. To gain the public support, it is important to reconcile renewable power generation with agricultural production, rather than compete for land.
Benjamin Subei, Partner and Associate Director of the Boston Consulting Group, presented a striking concept: By making the switch to renewable agriculture with agricultural PV, farmers could increase their yields by up to 60 percent while cultivating organic crops. According to Subei, the combination with PV power generation would create a secure additional source of income that would pay for the investment in renewable agriculture.
Ground-breaking developments in the areas of robotics and artificial intelligence for agricultural PV were also showcased at the Agrivoltaics Industry Forum: Start-ups are developing robots powered by AI-controlled monitoring software that could handle tasks such as cleaning PV modules or selectively applying pesticides.
In addition, best practices from existing agricultural PV projects were shared in Madrid: What types of crops have the best yields with which system design (elevated, vertical or horizontal agricultural PV with trackers)? The industry agreed on the need to share the first lessons learned from agricultural PV and to replicate successful projects.
The Agrivoltaics Industry Forum takes place every year at different locations in Europe.