Agrivoltaics: Dual Use of Land for Energy and Food Sustainability

Abstract

Renewable energy has been of prime importance in the present era in meeting energy demand across all sectors. To meet this demand, solar energy has become a plausible option among scientists to reduce the fossil fuel effect and find an alternative solution. The main concern about large renewable energy installations on open land, mostly used for agricultural practices, is that they can displace different land uses and instigate the feed vs. fuel controversy in the long run. The current study reviewed the installation of solar panels on farmland’s benefits and challenges. The present study also reviewed the effect of solar panels on agricultural crop microclimate, soil, water condition, and crop growth and yields. Crop production and solar PV electricity generation from the same land space have numerous benefits, such as improving land productivity, reducing irrigation, managing soil, protecting crops from adverse climatic conditions (heat, frost, rainfall, etc.), increasing PV panel efficiency, and meeting house and farm electricity needs. Fewer demerits of agrivoltaics are to be studied in the future, such as keeping a suitable crop cycle, limited crop suitability, high expenses, and a lack of technical expertise. A big change to meet future energy demand without much impact on the environment is the dual use of open land for crop production and solar energy generation. To maximize crop yield, the impact of solar panels on crop yields has not been studied for numerous crops. We found that the optimum arrangement of solar panels admits varying levels of solar radiation according to crop needs. Sustainable agriculture and efficient solar energy generation can be possible in the same field by perfecting shade design and selecting suitable crops.