Tinted Semi‐Transparent Solar Panels Allow Concurrent Production of Crops and Electricity on the Same Cropland

Autor: Nazanin Zand, Aldous Everard, Emilio L. Bombelli, Simon Shubham, Elinor Thompson, Christopher J. Howe, Hamish Watson, Stefano Bocchi, Paolo Bombelli, Andrea Schievano, Vincenzo D’Ardes
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Advanced Energy Materials. 10:2001189
ISSN: 1614-6840
1614-6832
DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202001189
Popis: Agrivoltaics describes concurrent agricultural production of crops and photovoltaic generation of electricity on the same cropland. By using tinted semi-transparent solar panels, this study introduces a novel element to transform the concept of agrivoltaics from just solar-sharing to selective utilisation of different light wavelengths. Agrivoltaic growth of basil and spinach was tested. When compared with classical agriculture, the agrivoltaic co-generation of biomass and electricity displayed financial gross gain calculated as +18% for basil and +113% for spinach. This was accompanied by a relative increase in the protein content for both plants grown under agrivoltaic conditions. Agrivoltaics implemented with tinted solar panels improved the photosynthetic use of solar radiation up to 69%, including the source-sink relationship, with up to 63% increase in shoot to root investment. Agrivoltaics can enrich the portfolio of farmers, mitigate risks associated with climate and vastly enhance the global photovoltaics capacity without compromising agricultural production.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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