The UK targets tripling its solar PV capacity from 16.9 GW to 50 GW by 2030, which will require up to 662 km2 of additional land. This will mostly be covered by ground-mounted solar parks, which will potentially lead to conflict with other land uses, including agriculture, fear the researchers.
Additionally, the government’s focus on ground-mounted solar parks is unpopular with farmers and the public alike. There is a fear of loss of agricultural land for food production with the expansion of solar farms.
“Agrivoltaic technology is a potential way out of this dilemma. It allows us to use the same area of land for both food and clean energy production, addressing some of the criticism levelled at solar farms,” explains the Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University of Sheffield and Co-Author of the study, Professor Sue Hartley. “This technology is in regular use in many areas of the world, including areas like Scandinavia with less sunlight than the UK, but has not yet been adopted here.”
The complete study is available for a free read on the website of the Science Direct journal.
Agrivoltaics are especially becoming popular in the rest of Europe as several countries like Italy and Czechia have devised a suitable regulatory environment to boost this PV application, while there are specialized products offered to cater to this segment like trackers and even agrivoltaic modules. According to the SolarPower Europe’s Agrisolar Handbook, agrivoltaics have the potential to boost crop yield by up to 60% (see Agrisolar Can Boost Crop Yield By Up To 60%, Says SolarPower Europe).
The University of Sheffield team had earlier conducted a similar study on agrivoltaics potential on farmland in Tanzania and Kenya. They found solar panels contributing significantly to crop yield and water conservation. Crops such as maize, Swiss chard and beans thrived under the partial shade of the solar panels.
Recently, the University of Sheffield and its industrial partner Power Roll unveiled a new type of back contact (BC) solar cell design using perovskite (see New Perovskite-Based Back Contact Solar Cell With Up To 12.8% Efficiency).
