Wageningen University and the consultancy Renergize studied producing food and electricity on the same land with solar panels. The researchers believe solar panels have a future in agriculture. The technology opens up new opportunities, but it also needs new knowledge and changes to laws and regulations.
In the Netherlands, solar parks have mostly been built for electricity alone, and that caused public anger over inefficient use of land.
One way to get more out of land is to combine farming with power generation. The result is agricultural solar parks, also known as agri-PV. Vertical solar panels are used on potato fields, in orchards and on berry farms.
Large-scale production of food and electricity on the same plot is possible. With agri-PV, the combined output per hectare turned out higher than with conventional farming.
More efficient land use doesn’t always bring the hoped-for profit, though. Agri-PV costs more than regular solar panels, and the extra cost has to pay off somehow. So farmers need to weigh the pros and cons. Solar panels can protect crops from extreme weather, but the shade they cast can also lower yields.
