AgriVoltaics- A Potential Solution for Food and Energy-A Short Overview

AgriVoltaics a revolutionary climate smart technology is proving to be a breakthrough towards maximization of Food Production and Energy Production on the same piece of land promoting dual use and Minimizing Land use conflicts, this offers a potential solution for Land economy problem. Through this technology crops are grown in between and underneath the Arrays with simultaneous production of energy. Through creation of Micro Climate that facilitates the growth of specific crops like Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Broccoli and many more. However the crop yield depends on variable factors like weather condition, Geographical location, type of soil, vegetation and many other factors.

AgriVoltaics can be profitable option to not only increase land productivity but also enable improved farm practices. This technology helps maintain the nutrients in the soil, prevents soil erosion, water stress and Maintains the evaporation levels to help the plants grow under specific and very controlled micro climate conditions. When all calculations were done, promising results appeared. Researchers discovered that land’s productivity could be raised by 60 percent. “The project results from the first year are a complete success: the Agrophotovoltaic system proved suitable for the practice and costs as much as a small solar roof system. The crop production is sufficiently high and can be profitably sold on the market,” explains Stephan Schindele,?project manager of Agrophotovoltaics?at Fraunhofer ISE to Digital Journal.

Habitat for pollinators is declining worldwide, threatening the health of both wild and agricultural ecosystems. As per the research by nature in one of the articles suggested that effects of solar arrays on plant composition, bloom timing and foraging behaviour of pollinators from June to September (after peak bloom) in full shade plots and partial shade plots under solar panels as well as in full sun plots (controls) outside of the solar panels. We found that floral abundance increased and bloom timing was delayed in the partial shade plots, which has the potential to benefit late-season foragers in water-limited ecosystems. Pollinator abundance, diversity, and richness were similar in full sun and partial shade plots, both greater than in full shade. Pollinator-flower visitation rates did not differ among treatments at this scale. This demonstrates that pollinators will use habitat under solar arrays, despite variations in community structure across shade gradients.

AgriVoltaics also helps in conservation of Biodiversity and helps maintain Pollinator Habitat. The technology is supportive of maintaining the eco sysytem where all the factors comes in support of the technology and research shows that Pollinating insects are a cornerstone of natural and agricultural ecosystems, aiding in the reproduction of 75% of flowering plant species and 35% of crop species globally. Habitat for pollinating insects is declining globally as a result of land use change, attributed in part to urbanization, agricultural intensification, and general land development. Therefore this is an excellent tool for preserving Wildlife, Natural Habitats and protection from extinction of rare species, butterflies and insects.

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