A group of scientists have simulated fixed vertical, spacing and above-ground single-axis and above-ground dual-axis agrivoltaic systems for 30 years and found that single-axis spacing system emerged as the most environmentally friendly configuration in Europe.
A research group led by scientists from Italy and Sweden has conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) of several types of bifacial agrivoltaic (APV) systems.
LCA is a method to assess the environmental impact of a system throughout its life cycle, in this case from cradle to end of use, excluding the end-of-life phase.
“This work focused on the quantification of the environmental impacts of four APV designs, including fixed vertical, spacing and above-ground single-axis systems, as well as above-ground dual-axis systems under the PV component attribution method and the resulting crop approach, all in a single study,” said corresponding author Amirhossein Nik Zad. pv magazine. “All APV systems are compared against a conventional ground-mounted PV (CGMPV). Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis was performed for all APV systems against CGMPV.”
The system was simulated to operate in four different European locations: Kärrbo Prästgård in Sweden, Jeggeleben in Germany, Piacenza in northern Italy and Agrigento in southern Italy. The simulation was built using typical years derived from large-scale climate datasets for the period 2000 to 2024, and the associated LCA was compared to national network mixes in the relevant countries. Seven types of crops were taken into account, with their respective equations and models: C3 cereals, berries, maize, legumes, fruits, root crops and livestock feed.
At all locations the APV systems had a capacity of 1 MW and it was assumed that the projects would have a duration of 30 years. Each installation was made of 450 W bifacial modules with an efficiency of 21.13% and a bifacial factor of 75%. They each weigh 29 kg, degrade at an annual rate of 0.5% and have a surface area of 2.13 m2 (2.13 m x 1 m). The albedo of all installations was assumed to be 0.2 and fouling and wiring losses were 2% of total system losses.
The fixed vertical system had module rows aligned north to south, with modules facing east on one side and west on the other. The trackers had north-south aligned arrays and rotated from east to west to follow the path of the sun: the overhead single-axis trackers had a rotation range of 55°, and the intermediate single-axis trackers had a rotation range of 45° along the north-south axis. Dual-axis trackers rotated along both the north-south and east-west axes to track the sun completely. The CGMPV had east-west aligned rows of modules oriented from north to south with a fixed tilt angle specific to each location: 35◦ for Agrigento, 40◦ for both Piacenza and Jeggeleben, and 45◦ for Kärrbo Prästgård.
Image: Life cycle assessment of different agricultural voltaic systems across Europe, Sustainable Production and Consumption, CC BY 4.0
According to Nik Zad, the material data for all APVs was obtained directly from industrial sources, and the study presents the first inventory of structural materials of the vertical APV system. The PV components were analyzed using the attribution method in 10 environmental impact categories: climate change, ozone depletion, respiratory inorganic substances, photochemical ozone formation, acidification, land eutrophication, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, mineral and metal use, and fossil fuel use.
“The single-axis spacing system emerged as the most environmentally friendly configuration, with the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 57% less particulate matter, 48% less acidification and 27% less eutrophication compared to other APV designs,” said Nik Zad. “The dual-axis above-ground system showed the greatest environmental impact, mainly driven by the substantial steel requirements for elevated mounting structures.”
The analysis also found that all APV systems exhibited 3.5 to 9.6 times higher mineral resource consumption than the electricity grid mix, highlighting the importance of material-efficient designs for sustainable deployment. In addition, all APV systems significantly outperformed national electricity grids in nine impact categories, reducing environmental impacts by 8 to 111 times.
“However, an important nuance emerged: APV systems do not always outperform national grids in every region and impact category. In Sweden, where the electricity grid is predominantly low-carbon, the overhead dual-axis APV system actually showed a slightly higher photochemical ozone formation potential than the Swedish grid,” Nik Zad noted. “This occurs because the combination of high material intensity in dual-axis structures and low solar radiation at northern latitudes inflates the normalized environmental burden per kWh produced. This finding highlights that APV deployment strategies need to be regionally tailored.”
The study findings are presented in “Life cycle analysis of several agricultural voltaic systems across Europe”, published in Sustainable production and consumption. Researchers from the Italian Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment (ENEA) and Sweden’s Mälardalen University took part in the study.
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