Raising a bumper crop of electrons?
Until now, acreage was designated for either photovoltaics or photosynthesis, that is, to generate electricity or grow crops. An agrophotovoltaics (APV) pilot project near Lake Constance, however, has now demonstrated that both uses are compatible. Dual use of land is resource efficient, reduces competition for land and additionally opens up a new source of income for farmers. For one year, the largest APV system in Germany is being tested on the Demeter farm cooperative Heggelbach. In the demonstration project led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, solar modules for electricity production are installed directly above crops covering an area of one third hectare. Now the first solar harvest of power and produce has been collected on both levels.
"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.
Why not cover parking lots with solar panels instead? Parked cars do not need to perform photosynthesis.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by leftover on Wednesday November 29 2017, @04:15PM (1 child)
The terms "yield loss>5%" and "sold for a profit" are mutually exclusive. Did this team include, or even talk with, an ag-economist or a farmer? Or does this result just happen to reflect the name of the organization and the project: Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and "project manager of agrophotovoltaics."
Farmers work hard and spend a lot of money for small-percentage gains. For most conventional crops, yield is directly proportional to the amount of sunlight captured by the plants. On the other hand, maybe this approach could be used in a location with too much sunlight for some specialty crops.
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday November 29 2017, @10:01PM
The terms "yield loss>5%" and "sold for a profit" are mutually exclusive.
No, they aren't.