What is Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics is an innovative approach to co-locate agricultural activities with electricity generation from solar energy.

Both the solar PV and crops require solar resources to produce their outputs. Agrivoltaics aims to achieve an optimal sharing of solar energy and food crops to accrue maximal land utilisation.

Agrivoltaics (also known as agrophotovoltaics, agrisolar, or dual-use solar) can significantly help address the climate change problem without compromising crop cultivation, simultaneously powering the energy crisis-ridden agricultural sector and improving farmers’ income.

Benefits of Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics projects have demonstrated several benefits. Here is a look at some of them. 

Improved Land Utilisation

Small and fragmented landholdings, prevalent across many regions worldwide, reduce farming efficiency and hinder the adoption of modern agricultural techniques. 

Therefore, instead of using separate plots of land for farming and solar energy, agrivoltaics allows both on the same land. 

The innovative concept can be a boon for nearly all agricultural sectors, offering a chance to increase the land’s productivity by colocating solar panels with other operations.

Clean Energy

The energy generated in agrivoltaics farms is cleaner, greener and promotes decarbonization of the agricultural sector, thus bringing a sense of sustainability to agriculture.

The clean electricity generated from agrivoltaics can be utilised not only for fulfilling the energy requirements for agricultural purposes but also for supporting allied activities and businesses. 

Income Diversification

Agrovoltaics helps with income diversification by creating multiple revenue streams for farmers, rather than relying solely on crop production. 

Farmers can earn additional income through excess power generation and sales to the grid, lease payments from solar developers, and potential carbon credits. 

Crop Protection From Climate 

In hot and dry climates, solar panels over the crops protect them from scorching sunlight, which can reduce heat stress and conserve water by lowering evaporation, resulting in reduced irrigation requirements. 

However, care must be taken to understand the effect of the shade imparted by the solar panels on the crop yield. Some crops can be negatively impacted by the shade, while others benefit from it.

Leafy vegetables and some horticultural crops can benefit from shade, or are unaffected by it. Cereals, such as paddy, wheat, maize, and some vegetables and fruits, can be negatively impacted by shade provided by agrivoltaics systems.

Agrivoltaics also provide crop protection from damage due to extreme weather events, such as squalls, hailstorms, and cold waves, etc, and encourages climate resilience in agriculture.

Protection from Sunlight

Apart from crops, strategically placed solar panels can provide a cool retreat to cattle, sheep, or goats during scorching summer days. This can significantly reduce heat stress in livestock, leading to improved health and potentially higher yields.

Even poultry farmers and beekeepers can benefit; solar panels can create much-needed pockets of shade for birds and beehives, all while generating clean energy that can power the farm or feed back into the grid.

Challenges of Agrovoltaics

As mentioned, not all crops are suitable under shaded conditions, limiting the choice of crops that can be grown in agrovoltaic systems. 

Other than that, the biggest challenge for implementing the agrovoltaic project is the costs and technical feasibility. 

The installation of elevated solar panels requires a significant investment, which can be a barrier for farmers, especially those with limited financial resources.

Furthermore, designing agrivoltaic systems is complex, requiring careful optimisation of panel height, tilt angles, and spacing for different crops, which will require expertise and skilled manpower.

Way Forward

Looking at the benefits of agrivoltaics, it is viewed as a promising opportunity; however, technology is fairly new and will therefore require testing and government intervention. 

Testing and Research

More pilots to be tested in different agro-climatic zones to evaluate feasibility, detect flaws, and gather feedback for improvements.

Stakeholders, including farmers, researchers, and technology providers, could explore different approaches and techniques to optimise agrivoltaics systems.

Examining aspects such as ideal ground coverage ratio, promising crops, and different weather patterns can help identify best practices and performance benchmarks. 

Public Awareness

Launching public awareness campaigns through local media channels and agricultural publications can help to promote the benefits to all kinds of farmers.

Featuring success stories and examples of farmers who have successfully implemented agrivoltaics in their operations, it will reassure other farmers and inspire them to consider this approach.

These campaigns may highlight the benefits of agrivoltaics to farmers, including increased productivity, potential for higher income, and environmental sustainability.

Capacity Building and Training

Training rural youth and imparting the necessary technical skills for agrovoltaic installation and maintenance will create jobs and build capacity and expertise.

Further, programs to teach farmers how to integrate solar panels without harming crops or yields will also be needed. 

Standards and Policies

Considering, agrivoltaics is new, it is important that the government define standards as per technical needs and farming practices. Allied activities such as animal husbandry, sericulture, aquaculture, apiculture, etc., will require different agrivoltaics approaches. 

Defining technical standards will ensure effective planning, policy-making, regulation, and potential investment in agrivoltaics projects. 

Failure to recognise agrivoltaics could result in missed opportunities for sustainable development. Without formal recognition, agrivoltaics projects may face regulatory ambiguity, which will hinder their development and deter potential investors and stakeholders.

In the absence of clear guidance and financial incentives, this may deliver sub-optimal outcomes, leading to limited uptake and slow progress in realising the potential benefits of agrivoltaics. 

Financial Incentives

Additionally, the government can provide financial incentives, subsidies and easy loans for installing solar panels compatible with farming. This will encourage small farmers to adopt agrivoltaics systems as a viable land-use option. 

The government can also establish systems that allow agrovoltaic farmers to earn carbon credits for sustainable energy and land use, which they can sell.

Wrapping Up

Colocation of agriculture and solar energy generation creates a true win-win situation, increased productivity, potentially lower energy bills, and a reduced environmental footprint, a strategy that benefits financially and ecologically.

While there are challenges to its implementation, the benefits of agrivoltaics make it a worthwhile consideration for enhancing agricultural productivity and sustainability.

Farmers, project developers, investors, policymakers, and researchers must come together to participate in implementing agrivoltaics projects, which might unlock a new era of agricultural productivity.