Agrivoltaic Farming: Crops Growth Under Solar Panels

Agrivoltaic farming is the procedure of growing crops underneath solar panels. Scientific studies prove some crops thrive when grown in this way.

FREMONT, CA: Doubling up on land use Agrivoltaic farming could help feed the world's growing population while providing sustainable energy.

As temperatures rise to record levels and wildfires rage around the world, the need to meet net-zero targets has never been more urgent. Simultaneously, expanding climate resilience across food systems will be necessary to counter rising hunger and malnutrition.

Agrivoltaic farming could solve not just one but both of these problems. First, it uses the shaded space underneath solar panels to grow crops.

This enhances land-use efficiency, letting solar farms and agriculture share ground rather than making them compete facing one another.

And specific crops appear to thrive when grown in such environments.

Solar panels sometimes have to be elevated or suspended to enable plants to grow beneath them. Another choice is putting them on the roofs of greenhouses. This enables enough light and rainwater to reach the crops and provides access to farm machinery.

Where is agrivoltaic farming already in use?

Researchers in South Korea have been rising broccoli underneath photovoltaic panels.

The panels are positioned 2-3 meters off the ground and sit at an angle of 30 degrees, providing shade and contributing crops protection from the weather.

A study into this project revealed that the quality of the broccoli was not any lower than that of broccoli grown traditionally. Nor was there any substantial change in its taste.

An Agrivoltaic farming project in Kenya uses solar panels held several meters off the ground, with gaps between them. The shade from the panels safeguards vegetables from heat stress and water loss.

This has resulted in rural farmers growing a more fantastic range of higher-value crops. In addition, the researchers say the project effectively harvests the sun's power twice.

The results could be incredibly transformative if solar panels can be added to greenhouses. Greenhouse-based farming reportedly produces ten times more food than growing in an open field, but it can require ten times as much power.

How could this help tackle climate change?

Growing the world's solar energy capacity will be a big part of solving the sustainability equation. However, the UN estimates that the global population will rise by approximately 2 billion in the coming 30 years, and land is at its prime.

Agrivoltaics is one method of using the same land area to produce more food while also rolling out more renewable energy sources.

South Korea's renewable energy utilization is the lowest among International Energy Agency member countries. Its land is also in short supply because of mountainous terrain ranging 70% of the country; hence agrivoltaic farming could be a game-changing solution.

This has intense environmental implications and points to a new way of farming – completely electric runs on renewable resources and can sustainably produce the food we require to feed the future.