Optimization of PV Array Density for Fixed Tilt Bifacial Solar Panels for Efficient Agrivoltaic Systems

Abstract

Agrivoltaic systems are innovative production systems for dual production of solar energy and agriculture from the same land. The technology has a great potential to holistically address food-energy-water challenges across globe. The design of solar PV arrays for agrivoltaics differs from a standard solar system due to the constraints of shading at the crop level. We explore optimization of PV array row density for fixed tilt bifacial PV for a given crop and the food-energy productivity requirements from the system. Bifacial PV arrays in vertical tilt facing East/West are compared to North/South faced bifacial PV arrays at fixed optimal tilt and relative productivity of energy and food at a given array density is investigated using daily temporal calculations of sunlight at PV and crop levels. We further explore the effect of tilt angle for fixed tilt agrivoltaic systems and explore its effect on energy and drop shadows on crops for the two PV orientations.