IEA-PVPS is about to launch a new format for expert involvement. It will include an agrovoltaic energy action group, as well as a joint effort to align agriculture and solar energy generation. It aims to unlock the potential of agrivoltaic energy, optimize land use efficiency, increase agricultural resilience to climate change and promote social consensus on solar energy development.
At a time when the imperatives of sustainability and climate action dominate the global discourse, innovative approaches at the intersection of energy and agriculture have received increasing attention. Of these, agrivoltaic energy, a practice that combines PV installations with agricultural activities, offers a unique opportunity to address pressing challenges in land use, climate resilience and energy transition. Recognizing its transformative potential and the way it intersects with many other areas of research, the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Program (IEA PVPS) has established the Action Group on Agrivoltaics, an innovative format within the programme.
- Benefits and challenges of agricultural voltaics
Global population growth has led to increased demand for food, increasing pressure on available land for both agricultural and energy purposes. At the same time, challenges such as water scarcity, extreme weather events and rising temperatures due to the climate crisis have increased, creating significant obstacles to agricultural practices. Farmers face regulatory constraints and economic uncertainty, limiting their ability to secure water supplies, protect wildlife and maintain crop yields.
Agrivoltaic energy, the practice of installing solar panels in conjunction with agricultural activities, offers a promising solution to these challenges. By maximizing land productivity through the combined use of land, and addressing land scarcity concerns, agrivoltaics offers tangible benefits. Furthermore, it increases agricultural resilience by providing shade, reducing water evaporation and mitigating the impact of climate change on crop yields. As a result, agrivoltaic energy attracted significant interest from policy makers, researchers and stakeholders around the world.
Despite the clear benefits, the agrivoltaic sector faces barriers to widespread implementation. Legal hurdles hinder the construction approval process, and its often higher costs can hinder progress if adequate incentives are not available. Furthermore, varying levels of public support across regions necessitate coordinated efforts to engage stakeholders and gain community support for proposed projects.
- Objectives and results of the new action group
The main objectives of the Action Group are to assess the current state of knowledge in agriculture and to provide a forum to promote international cooperation. By synthesizing existing research, promoting interdisciplinary and international dialogue, and producing comprehensive reports, the group aims to achieve three primary outcomes: optimizing land use efficiency, increasing agricultural resilience, and promoting social consensus on the adoption of solar energy. The forthcoming public report, ‘Status Quo and Global Trends in Agrivoltaics’, to be released in November 2025, will serve as a cornerstone of this effort, accompanied by internal recommendations to guide future IEA PVPS actions in agrivoltaics.
- Collaborative Efforts: Approaches and Guiding Principles
Rather than conducting new research, the Action Group focuses on consolidating existing knowledge and promoting collaboration across the IEA’s PVPS tasks. Reflecting the fact that agricultural voltaics is a multidisciplinary field, the IEA’s PVPS tasks are already working on this topic, such as Task 12 (PV Sustainability Activities, Task 13 (Reliability and Performance of Photovoltaic Systems), and to some extent also task 16 (solar sources). Task 12 and Task 13 will produce and publish agricultural voltaics reports in 2024. The new Action Group aims to coordinate efforts and increase synergies between different initiatives through literature reviews, virtual exchanges, thematic workshops, and summary reports, the group aims to bridge disciplinary boundaries and build a vibrant agrivoltaic community within IEA PVPS promote. By harmonizing methodologies and defining common metrics, the group seeks to lay the foundation for future research efforts and international collaboration initiatives.
- Phases of action
The Action Group embarks on a journey that includes three distinct phases: formation, stakeholder engagement and synthesis. During the formation phase, the group lays the foundation, establishes key advisory and work teams, clarifies roles and defines objectives. Subsequent stakeholder workshops serve as a catalyst for engagement, promoting dialogue and knowledge exchange. Finally, the synthesis phase culminates in the development of a comprehensive report that summarizes the Action Group’s collective insights and recommendations.
Conclusion
As the global community strives for sustainable energy solutions, agrivoltaic energy is emerging as a promising path to progress. The IEA PVPS Action Group on Agrivoltaics plays a crucial role in advancing this agenda, fostering collaboration and shaping the future of sustainable energy and agriculture. Through its collaborative efforts, the group is paving the way for a better, more sustainable future for generations to come.
The Agrivoltaics Action Group is co-led by Alessandra Scognamiglio (ENEA, Italy) and Jordan Macknick (NREL, USA). They encourage interested parties willing to collaborate and participate in the Action Group to contact them at: alessandra.scognamiglio@enea.it and jordan.macknick@nrel.gov.
Author: Bettina Sauer
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