Renewable energy from solar plants is considered indispensable for the energy mix of the future, but photovoltaics is increasingly coming into conflict with agriculture and the protection of biodiversity: Since the available roof areas are insufficient to provide enough electricity from solar energy in the future, more and more open-space solar parks are being set up. Their modules are usually facing south and mounted flat to gather as much solar energy as possible. Under them, the cultivation of crops is no longer possible so that solar parks are difficult to reconcile with modern arable farming. Moreover, they have a major impact on the environment and on biodiversity even in areas that are not used for agriculture.

The BIODIV-SOLAR project – funded by Research at Universities of Applied Sciences through FH-Kooperativ – aims to resolve this conflict with various newly developed concepts for agrivoltaics. One of them is AgriPVplus: This concept is based on vertically mounted photovoltaic (PV) modules that are installed in rows between the cultivated areas so that the plants still get enough light. Such a system has now been inaugurated on a test field at Anhalt University. The Minister of Science of Saxony-Anhalt Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann was among the guests, and the Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger contributed a video message.

“The vertical design of the plants is one of the great advantages of AgriPVplus,” explains project member Pascal Scholz. “The modules are bifacial, which means they can collect sunlight on both sides and convert it into electricity. If you orient them to the east and west, they produce mainly in the morning and afternoon, using the low sun.” Thus, AgriPVplus closes a crucial gap in energy production since most modules – whether on roofs or open spaces – are mounted flat and facing south and therefore mainly supply electricity around midday.

Vertical construction is also a real gamechanger in terms of plant growth. The modules still cast a shadow, but apart from some species that only thrive in full sun (such as maize or sunflowers), most crop plants cope excellently with these conditions. In hot and dry summers, vertical PV modules might even increase yields because in addition to providing shadow they also deflect the wind and thus reduce the evaporation of moisture on the field; at least this is what initial experience with comparable systems suggests. Moreover, AgriPVplus is well suited to agricultural processes: The rows of modules can be set up flexibly, leaving enough space between them for agricultural machinery. And if the areas directly under the modules are used for low-growing wild plant strips, they can even provide shelter and food for pollinators such as honeybees and wild bees as well as for other important beneficial insects on which agriculture depends.

The newly inaugurated AgriPVplus system at Anhalt University consists of a total of 144 modules and is expected to supply about 55,000 kilowatt-hours of solar electricity per year. It will primarily be used to test the practicality of the concept on a scientific basis. At the same time, it will also serve as a demonstration object for the public, which can be used to illustrate innovative land use concepts.