Researchers in Spain surveyed 238 wine tourists in the Murcia region and found widespread support for trellis-integrated agrivoltaic systems in vineyards, with 94% supporting solar energy integration and most respondents seeing no landscape conflicts.
A group of researchers in Spain conducted a survey among wine tourists to assess their perception and social acceptance of agrivoltaic installations in vineyards. The results show that a large majority of respondents do not consider solar panels to be in conflict with the wine-growing landscape.
“Our findings are particularly compelling for vineyards, but the trends can be extrapolated to other crops where stakeholders are very sensitive to visual impacts on the landscape,” said the study’s lead author, Javier Padilla Martínez. pv magazine. “The findings are particularly applicable to lattice-integrated structures, a low-height solution that we propose and compare with taller existing ones.”
The research focused on the Spanish region of Murcia, where wine growing covers 20,918 hectares of vineyards and produces 64,188 tons of grapes and 757,484 hectoliters of wine annually, generating approximately 157 million euros in export revenues. The study examined four low, vertically integrated agrivoltaic configurations in trellis vineyards, with panel heights ranging from 1.8 m to 2.4 m.
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Wine tourists took part in guided tours of pilot plants, where agricultural voltaic systems and their potential advantages and disadvantages were explained. The participants then completed a survey.
A structured, anonymous questionnaire was designed using Google Forms. The researchers said that the questionnaire had been validated by the Experimental Research Ethics Committee of the Responsible Research Office of Miguel Hernández University, the public research agency involved in this phase, in accordance with the regulations for experimental procedures. Authorization code NA.IAN.240309 ensured that the study was conducted within an ethical, safe and legal framework.
The survey asked respondents about the importance of photovoltaic energy, their support for agrivoltaic energy in vineyards, land use preferences, preferred system configurations, perceptions of landscape integration after site visits, potential benefits and disadvantages of agrivoltaic implementation in vineyards, environmental awareness as measured by willingness to pay for sustainably certified wine, and their personal and socio-demographic characteristics.
The sample consisted of 238 respondents over the age of 18 living in the Murcia region. No statistically significant differences were found by age, income or place of residence. However, the researchers noted statistically significant differences in gender, education level and environmental awareness. About 94% of respondents were in favor of integrating solar panels into vineyard trellises.
The study found that there was a generally positive social perception of agrivoltaic systems, especially in the vineyards of the Murcia region. The survey revealed a substantial consensus on the importance of solar energy generation on agricultural land, and a clear majority were in favor of combining energy and agricultural use on the same plot, confirming the high acceptance of agrivoltaic energy as a dual-use land model.
“The results of this study indicate a generally positive social perception of AVS implementation, especially in vineyards in the Murcia region of southern Spain,” the research team explains. “A substantial consensus has been identified among the surveyed population on the importance of solar energy generation on agricultural land. Furthermore, a clear majority of respondents have expressed support for the integration of energy and agricultural use on the same plot, confirming a high level of acceptance of agrivoltaic energy as a dual-use land model.”
The results of the study are presented in “Assessment of social perception of agrivoltaic systems in vineyards. A case study of an integrated trellis-based configuration in southeastern Spain”, published in Focus on renewable energy. The research team consisted of academics from the Technical University of Cartagena and Miguel Hernández University of Elche.
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