Agrivoltaics in Austria: A stakeholder perspective on the opportunities and constraints of synergetic land use

Abstract

Renewable energy infrastructure has a major impact on the landscape and competes with other land uses. This influence will continue to increase if we want to achieve the urgent shift towards a renewable energy system in the next two decades. Photovoltaic is a key technology, but when deployed on open space, it conflicts with agricultural production and various other landscape-related uses. At the same time, agriculture is confronted with new demands on operational energy management and is looking for adaptation strategies concerning climate change. Therefore, approaches to promote synergetic land use to mitigate ecosystem impacts and land use competition are critical. Agrivoltaics (AV) is a promising approach to respond to these developments. While well established in some Asian countries, the role of AV in Europe is characterized by a lack of reliable data and knowledge on the potential contribution to the energy transformation. This article aims at exploring the constraints and opportunities of AV in Austria by exploring an AV greenhouse case study for vegetable production in Vienna, Austria. Greenhouse production seeks for solutions to lower the energy demand and maintaining competitiveness. By conducting guided interviews with stakeholders from agriculture, politics, photovoltaic engineering and academia, opportunities and challenges of AV are being explored. Qualitative content analysis shows that there seems to be a lack of information and communication among stakeholders. Missing incentives and regulations, a lack of knowledge and concerns about landscape impacts were identified. Positive effects such as plant shading, off-grid and local energy production, competitiveness and dual land use were emphasized. Based on the results we recommend to increase research activities in this field for providing reliable data, to strengthen stakeholder communication and to develop transparent legal regulations for AV implementation.