How does Module Array Design Affect the Food-Energy Productivity of Agrivoltaic Systems?

Alam, Habeel and Armstrong, Alona (2024) How does Module Array Design Affect the Food-Energy Productivity of Agrivoltaic Systems? In: 2024 IEEE 52nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC) :. Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference . IEEE, pp. 1211-1213. ISBN 9781665475822

Abstract

Agrivoltaics (AV) is an innovative approach for dual food-electricity production on the same land that preserves land ecosystems and can enable several food-energy-water synergies. The design of the module arrays for AV needs an optimal balance for sharing sunlight between the agricultural and energy production. We explore the module array design for various AV configurations using a basic approach to evaluate AV performance relative to the standard ground-mounted PV as a function of the module array density, elevation, spatial distribution of light and the crop yield for different crop sensitivities. A spatial-temporal irradiance sharing model between the solar modules and crops is used to estimate the food-energy yields. Case studies are presented for different Agrivoltaic (AV) orientations, including a) North/South fixed tilt, b) vertical East/West faced bifacial, and c) single-axis tracking, specifically solar tracking (ST) and anti-tracking (AT) systems. These configurations are evaluated with various crops representing different levels of shade sensitivities. The presented approach is applicable to any global location and can be used for module array design, crop selection, and policy decisions.