An international study shows that successful agrivoltaic projects require farm-specific, holistic co-design that integrates PV layout with agricultural mechanization from the earliest planning stages. Without proper coordination between machines, crops and PV systems, agricultural voltaic systems risk major land loss, lower field efficiency and higher operating costs, undermining farm profitability.
An international research team has investigated how mechanized agriculture can be combined with agrivoltaic energy and discovered that the key to success is a holistic, farm-specific co-design process.
“Our research focuses on the integration of agricultural mechanization into the design of agricultural voltaic systems,” said the study’s lead author, Yuri Bellone, pv magazine. “It highlights how early planning for machine maneuverability is necessary to prevent the loss of agricultural land and ensure the economic viability of the agricultural component within agricultural voltaic projects.”
“We have investigated the often underestimated challenge of developing agrivoltaic systems where agricultural mechanization is a key requirement,” he continued. “This underestimation of designing a good mechanization strategy can result in insufficient available space, which hinders the maneuverability of machines and can lead to a significant loss of agricultural land. When land cannot be effectively processed with standard machinery, especially for tasks such as tillage and harvesting, the profitability of agricultural activity within the agrivoltaic system is negatively affected.”
Come to the on March 5 Double harvest, double problems: addressing EPC barriers in the design of agrivoltaic systems pv magazine session in the English language at KEY – The Energy Transition Expo in Rimini.
Experts will share insights on current agricultural voltaic technologies, key design choices and key barriers to standardized, scalable dual-use projects in Europe and Italy, including region-specific EPC issues.
In the study “Agricultural mechanization in agricultural voltaic systems: challenges, adaptation and possible progress”, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, the scientists outlined the specific considerations necessary prior to designing an agrivoltaic installation to ensure the continuity of agricultural activity.
“While agrivoltaic systems aim to increase the sustainability of agriculture both economically and environmentally, the physical arrays divide land into sectors inscribed in PV rows. Each sector acts as an independent unit defined by the specific agrivoltaic typology, with varying spatial constraints,” Bellone further explains. “Consequently, the horizontal length, intended as the space available for planting and tillage, and the vertical clearance within each sector become a primary design factor. A key barrier is that agricultural machinery and equipment are highly variable and are generally designed for open-field farming, rather than the limited routes generated in the agrivoltaic sector.”
To address this, farmers should plan the mechanization fleet in line with the entire crop rotation intended for the specific farm. “This planning is complicated if you rely on external contractors, who may use machines that are not perfectly suited for maximum efficiency within each specific agricultural voltaic installation,” Bellone points out. “However, the research points to exceptions, such as machines designed for viticulture and trellis systems, that offer potential for adaptation within denser agrivoltaic patterns.”
The researchers also noted that when using widely spaced PV arrays, buffer zones alone can cause up to 30% land loss. Furthermore, they highlighted that mechanized field operations under agrivoltaic systems are also less efficient, with efficiency potentially dropping to around 45% due to slower operating speeds and poor matching between machine width and available space.
They also recommended aligning the machine paths with the PV system layout rather than the natural orientation of the field. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution that fits all possible agrivoltaic configurations and the optimal strategy for mechanizing agriculture in the agrivoltaic sector depends on a nuanced interplay of PV, farm size, crop selection, available machinery, the availability of external contractors for mechanized activities and the investment capacity of companies,” they emphasized.
The group also explained that standardization is currently difficult to achieve given the enormous heterogeneity in agricultural machinery, noting that project design can also have an impact on the fuel consumption and operating costs of the machines involved. For example, fuel consumption could increase due to operational inefficiencies, including greater overlap and more frequent turns, as narrower implements are often preferred in agricultural voltaic systems compared to open fields.
Looking ahead, the scientists plan to discover ways to improve the operational efficiency and energy consumption of agricultural machinery within agrivoltaic systems. “Advances in precision agriculture technologies, including GPS-guided machines and optimized route planning software, hold significant promise for mitigating the operational constraints discussed,” they concluded.
The research team included academics from Mälardalen University in Sweden, as well as Italy’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA).
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