Brazilian scientists have investigated the potential of agrivoltaisies on sugar cane fields and have shown that this combination can offer benefits in terms of both agricultural and electricity yields. Their results showed that under certain circumstances the sugar cane yield under the panels can be higher than that of suddenly without PV.
A research team from the Federal University of Alagoas in Brazil has investigated how Agrivoltaic facilities can be integrated into sugar cane fields and has discovered that both the electric and agricultural yields of this combination benefit.
“Our analysis showed that the yield of the crop was higher in the Agrivoltaic environment compared to conventional environment cultivation,” the main author of the research, Leonardo Faustino Lacerda The Souzatold PV -Magazine. “These performance, combined with electrical production, led to high land use efficiency values. This is relevant for a state such as Alagoas, where sugar cane spreads around 324,500 hectares over 67 municipalities.”
The researchers performed their measurements and analysis on a 71.4 kW southern oriented Agrivoltaic system that was deployed in 2022 on a sugar cane field owned by Santa Clotilde Mill, which borders on the campus of the Federal University of Alagoas, in the Stad MacEió.
The system has 7 mounting structures with two columns and each a horizontal axis of 15 m each. The columns are made of rectangular hollow steel sections with dimensions of 250 x 150 mm, while the transversal beams are made with section beams with 200 mm height, 75 mm width and 25 mm flange with 4.75. The rays offer lateral stability and transfer taxes, while the columns serve as primary vertical support.
The structures are increased from the ground at a height ranging from 7 m to 8 m and each two rows of 15 polycrystalline solar modules with a capacity of 340 W. Two inverters with a capacity of 33 kW and 40 kW respectively are used in the facility.
“The system provides variation in the distance between independent structural units, which changes the level of shade on the crop,” said the academics. “The structure is anchored with the help of reinforced foundation blocks, which ensure that stability under environmental taxes.”
Due to a series of tests and simulations performed with PVsyst software, the group discovered that PV modules reached an average of 9,068 kWh per month, a capacity factor of 124.36 kWh/kW and a performance ratio of 16.88%, with the best and worst months are respectively.
The analysis also showed that sugar cane yield in the Agrivoltaic system was higher than a reference growing area without solar panels. Sugar gestation yield in the Agrivoltaic territories turned out to be 43.2% higher than in the reference area, which the scientists attributed to a higher photosynthe capacity. “We conclude that sugar cane yields reflected the higher leaf surface index (LAI) during growth in the Agrivoltaic system,” they explained further.
These results were also attributed to the power of the PV system to adjust inter-unit distances and change shadow levels over the crops. “Our primary goal was to offer the analytical tools that are needed to design and evaluate the performance of APV systems on sugar cane at a certain moment,” the academics concluded.
Their findings are available in the study “Agrophotovoltaic systems in sugar cane crops – a Brazilian case study“Published in Energy conversion and management.
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