For many people, solar power is seen as a threat to farming communities. That’s because they believe farmers must choose between raising crops or livestock and installing solar panels on their land. The Fraunhofer Institute has been conducting experiments in what it calls agrophotovoltaics for two years near Lake Constance, Germany. In the first year, it found the combination of solar and agriculture made the land 160% more productive than if it had been devoted exclusively to one or the other.
Agrophotovoltaics & Hot Weather
2108 was one of the hottest years yet in Europe, with the high temperatures having a negative affect on the yield from many farms. Yet Fraunhofer’s Lake Constance experimental farm thrived. The shading provide by the solar panels actually increased the harvest and the extra sunshine boosted electricity output as well. “Based on the 2018 potato yield, the land use efficiency rose to 186% per hectare with the agrophotovoltaic system,” says Stephan Schindele of Fraunhofer ISE in a press release.
The Lake Constance farm mounts its solar panels 5 meters above the ground, leaving room for livestock and plants to grow […]
This is a game changer.
Thank you for posting! Great news.
Wow. What a fantastic idea as long as the plants under the cells can survive and thrive without full sun. This surely looks like a winner of an idea contest for farmers, and maybe even gardeners if a person can afford the initial expense.