The world as we know it is has suffered greatly at the hands of its inhabitants. Actually, not all inhabitants. Only the species known as man. Humankind has literally brought upon themselves the corruption of the planet. We waste its resources like it’s nobody’s business. Thankfully, some foresighted people amongst us realized the danger we had put ourselves, our future generations and all other living creatures of the planet. All credit goes to them for waking us up from our slumber and encouraging the world to go green and practice sustainability.
The globe has to maintain food security and make the shift to renewable energy sources. Installing agricultural solar energy panels would help the environment in so many ways. Agrivoltaics is a promising approach. We can improve agricultural produce and utilize land to its maximum potential. We can also produce more energy by incorporating this method into farming systems.
Combining Agriculture And Solar Power
The terms used for combining agriculture and solar power are agrivoltaics and agro-photovoltaics. In simple terms, agrivoltaics is utilizing farming land and assets to generate solar energy. This is a brilliant practice consuming farm assets to produce electricity. There’s no wastage nor irreversible consumption. This is great for conserving water. So many tonnes of water is used to make electricity. To think the world is running out of drinkable water. This may solve the water crisis to an extent.
Agricultural solar energy panels play a tremendous role in optimizing energy output and crop yield. The agricultural solar energy panels are positioned strategically within or above agricultural fields. This is a creative solution that tackles the rising land-use conflict between the renewable energy and agriculture sectors.
Advantages of Agrivoltaics Enhanced Land Use
Agrivoltaics maximizes the value of each square meter by combining two lucrative land uses. It lessens the demand on agricultural land and lessens the requirement to convert new land for solar power facilities
Increased Crop Production
It may surprise you to learn that agricultural solar panels can produce a favorable atmosphere underneath them that offers benefits like shade, reduced soil evaporation, and temperature control may surprise you. Such situations might be better for some crops, especially in regions with lots of sunlight.
Enhanced Energy Production
In addition to producing clean electricity, agricultural solar energy panels also assist the agricultural system. You are producing and storing more energy. While creating solar energy, it also helps crops and farm animals. The energy produced can be sold back to the grid or used to operate irrigation systems and farm equipment. It’s an ongoing cycle.
Environmental Benefits
By producing clean electricity and preventing soil erosion, agrivoltaics helps to lower greenhouse gas emissions. By providing habitats for pollinators and other useful creatures, it also contributes to the protection of biodiversity.
Economic Benefits
By producing clean energy and maybe selling renewable energy credits, farmers can diversify their sources of revenue. Profits may also rise as a result of the improved crop yields.
Designs of Agricultural Solar Energy Systems
Various agricultural techniques and environments can be adapted by different designs of agrivoltaic systems:
Fixed-tilt ground-mounted systems: Solar panels are positioned above crops at a fixed tilt to let in enough sunlight for crop development.
Tracking systems: Agricultural solar panels track the cycle of the sun to increase energy output and give crops shade accordingly.
Integrated rooftop systems: Solar panels are mounted on agricultural buildings’ or greenhouses’ rooftops to produce clean electricity while shading crops and animals.
Floating solar systems: To maximize land use and possibly enhance water quality, solar panels are installed atop water features like ponds or reservoirs.
Obstacles That May Limit Efficiency
Agrivoltaics has a lot of promise, but there are several issues that must be resolved as well. As with any kind of system. There are always things to be carefully looked into and planned accordingly. Otherwise, the efficiency of the system is affected.
Crop selection
There are a number of different kinds of crops that are harvested. All of them have differing properties. The key to a successful implementation is figuring out which crop kinds do well in partial shadow and which don’t.
Panel height and spacing
In order to balance crop growth with solar energy generation, the ideal panel height and spacing must be established.
Economic viability
Careful consideration must be given to the startup costs of the investment as well as the possible earnings from solar energy and agriculture combination. Planning and documenting before introducing a new system is necessary. Everything has a cost and a return.
Policy support
The adoption of agricultural solar panels can be greatly aided by government incentives and legislation. Governmental support can help start-ups succeed. Which is actually helping better the environment for all.
Agricultural Solar Panels Put Into Action
Numerous prosperous agrivoltaic initiatives across the globe attest to the feasibility of this methodology. For example, farmers in the Netherlands have successfully incorporated solar panels into their greenhouse operations, while researchers in India have noted higher yields of some crops when grown under agricultural solar energy panels.
Agricultural solar panels appear to have a promising future with ongoing research and development focused on improving system designs, developing suitable crop types, and exploring potential uses. As people throughout the world search for sustainable methods to produce food and generate energy, agrivoltaics is a promising strategy to create a healthy balance between agricultural and renewable energy sources.
By embracing RAR Energy’s agricultural solar panels, farmers and energy producers can tackle today’s pressing problems and create a more reliable and sustainable future.
