A systematic review of agrivoltaics: productivity, profitability, and environmental co-benefits

Abstract

In co-locating agriculture and solar photovoltaics (PV) on the same land parcel, agrivoltaic systems (AVS) afford opportunities to meet growing global food and energy demand while contributing to renewable energy targets. Previous review studies have not concurrently examined how AVS impacts agri-food production and PV electricity generation, profitability, and environmental co-benefits and trade-offs. We systematically review the literature to assess the impact of AVS design, layout and position in the landscape on agri-food production and energy generation, profitability and environmental stewardship. The impact of site-specific factors such as climate, design constraints, policies and the emissions intensity of the local electricity system were also included in the assessment. In addition to renewable energy, we find that AVS provide co-benefits such as enhanced crop/pasture water-use efficiencies (up to 150–300 % improvement), greater land-use efficiency (up to 200 %), reduced irrigation demand (14 % reduction), improved profitability (up to 15 times higher revenue) and more consistent interannual crop/pasture production compared with conventional agricultural production systems in isolation. Such synergies amplify in locations characterized by arid, semi-arid and hot conditions that are conducive to transient or chronic plant water deficit. Further, bifacial solar panels achieve higher electricity yield per unit area compared with conventional monofacial panels, support plant growth by allowing greater solar radiation transmission, and provide flexibility in the selection of azimuth and tilt angle at which solar panels are installed. Bifacial panels thus afford complementarity with common agricultural practices, such as cultivation and/or livestock grazing. Although AVS tend to have higher installation costs than conventional PV systems (about 5–40 %), practitioners of subsidized projects report competitive returns on investment (payback period <10 years) and highlight benefits associated with revenue diversification. The conversion of agricultural land to AVS offers manifold environmental benefits, including mitigation of global warming, reduced eutrophication, and more effective utilization of land resources.