Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics, also called agrophotovoltaics or dual-use solar, is the practice of using the same land simultaneously for solar power generation and farming, by mounting solar panels above, between or alongside crops or grazing animals instead of dedicating the land to only one use. The theoretical case for combining the two was first explored by German scientists Adolf Goetzberger and Armin Zastrow in 1982, Japan built early field prototypes from 2004, and the term itself was coined in 2011 as European pilot projects expanded through the mid-2000s and after. Raising or spacing panels to let crops grow underneath can lower ground temperature and reduce evaporation, which is especially valuable in arid regions where the shade helps stabilize soil and slow desertification, while giving farmers a second income stream from electricity generated on the same acreage. By 2020 an estimated 2.8 gigawatts of agrivoltaic capacity had been installed worldwide, with China accounting for close to seventy percent of it.