Agrivoltaics allows the introduction of solar photovoltaic energy production on farms, integrating it with crop and livestock production. The photovoltaic panels are placed in the fields, with 'mobile' solar-tracking arrangements, at particular heights and according to geometries that allow agricultural work and grazing.
Spain is looking with interest at intelligent agrivoltaics and in the countryside of Toledo the multinational Iberdrola is running the experimental Winesolar project: an artificial intelligence algorithm will determine the optimal position in which to direct the modules. Also in Spain, in Totana (Murcia), Enel has completed a solar park that shares ground-sky space with agricultural activities. In the operational phase, it will generate 150 gigawatt hours per year. It required an investment of EUR 59 million and the implementation of 248,000 modules. In Italy, on 27 June, the Ministry of Ecological Transition published the 'Guidelines for agri-voltaic installations' (not yet final), which define the minimum criteria for agri-voltaic parks, structures where energy is produced by sharing the soil with agriculture and/or pastoralism. In practice, solar panels are on top, spinach and/or sheep underneath.
Building a system costs between 1,100 and 1,300 euros per peak kilowatt and the investment pays for itself in six to eight years, says Paolo Canonaco, the representative for Calabria of the National Product Federation of Confagricoltura and an entrepreneur who has decided to take the agrivoltaic route on the Serragiumenta estate, six hundred hectares in Altomonte in the province of Cosenza. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan envisaged an investment of EUR 1.1 billion to install a production capacity of 1.04 gigawatts capable of producing around 1,300 gigawatt hours per year, with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of around 0.8 million tonnes of CO2.
The minimum criteria laid down concern, for example, the height of the photovoltaic modules from the ground: never below 130 centimeters for livestock activity, and never below 210 centimeters for agricultural production. In order to choose how and what to produce, it will be necessary to assess the shading produced by the panels, water savings, soil fertility, and microclimate. The system can be integrated with temperature and humidity sensors.
The guidelines themselves, evaluating the experiences already underway in Germany and France, outline a picture of the crops that are more or less suitable for integration with agrivoltaics. "Yes" to potatoes, lettuce, broad beans, and hops that gain from good shading. "No" to cauliflower, sugar beet, and red beet. "Yes" to rye, barley, oats, green cabbage, rapeseed, peas, asparagus, carrots, radishes, leeks, celery, fennel, and tobacco. Once active, the plant is expected to be monitored to ensure its long-term activity and continuity in agricultural production.
GreenView Energy considers the agrivoltaics practice as a very relevant and valid alternative to produce clean energy. GreenView will always allow companies and households to produce and consume renewable energy.
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