Potentially ground-breaking project proves value of Agrophotovoltaic Farming

A really interesting piece reported by Clean Technica discusses the early results of a project combining solar PV and farming.

The aim? To define whether having a combination of solar PV and farming on a piece of land is more beneficial than having 100% of the land devoted to solar PV or 100% to farming.

The Fraunhofer Institute For Solar Energy Systems published results from its pilot project near Lake Constance in southwestern Germany. They found combining solar PV and farming increased the output of the land by an impressive 60% as opposed to land fully dedicated to either solar PV or farming.

Three combined systems have since been set up across different farms in Chile. The solar was found to be beneficial to crop shading and it could provide electricity to help with the production processes of cooling and providing power to an incubator for hatching chicken eggs, among other things.

These systems will be in place for three years and if the results are as fruitful as expected, then we could be looking at an exciting future, particularly in poor rural areas of the world.

The electricity provided will improve access to information, education and medical care. These remote regions will also have less of a reliance on fossil fuels with the installation of an agrophotovoltaic (APV) farming system.

Read more at Clean Technica.

Mypower are experts in commercial and agriculture solar PV systems. Get in touch for some friendly, expert advice.