An international research team reviewed agrivoltaic systems, highlighting challenges in design, crop performance, and PV efficiency, while mapping their global potential. They call for innovative layouts, targeted crop selection, and improved modeling to maximize energy yield and land-use efficiency.
An international research team has conducted a comprehensive review of the current state of agrivoltaic cropping systems.
“Our work highlights the challenges and barriers from four critical perspectives that are essential for advancing the field: system design, performance, deployment, and research,” corresponding author Silvia Ma Lu told pv magazine. “In addition to outlining these challenges, we recommend specific directions for research to address the current limitations of agrivoltaic systems.”
Co-author Sebastian Zainali added, “We have mapped and classified the potential for agrivoltaic systems on agricultural land worldwide, estimating an annual output of roughly 66 PWh to 385 PWh if deployed in the most suitable areas.” He noted that this potential depends on the type of PV technology used and the installation density, and it does not account for electric grid availability.
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In the study “Scientific frontiers of agrivoltaic cropping systems,” published in nature reviews clean technology, the researchers explained that, from a systems design perspective, integrating supporting structures and PV modules into traditional farming practices presents several challenges. These include potential crop yield losses, operational difficulties, risks of damage to PV modules and farming machinery, and the inevitable land loss required for support structures. Addressing these issues will require innovative layouts, PV modules and components tailored for agrivoltaic systems, as well as the identification of crop species and varieties that thrive under different shading conditions and climates.
“Such efforts aim to increase the installed peak power per hectare, helping to bridge the gap between agrivoltaic systems and conventional ground-mounted PV systems,” Ma Lu said. “Ultimately, this approach seeks to minimize the adverse effects of shading on crops while maximizing land-use efficiency.”
From a crop performance perspective, the team highlighted that PV modules influence light, microclimate, and soil conditions, which in turn affect crop-specific physiological responses and yield outcomes. These effects can either enhance or reduce productivity, depending on factors such as shading levels, crop varieties, and local climate conditions.
“Some published meta-analyses have attempted to establish simple relationships between shading rates and crop yield across various crop categories, but they have several limitations,” Zainali noted. “They often fail to account for key factors such as water availability and are based on limited data. Most agrivoltaic studies have been conducted in regions where water stress does not significantly impact crops. There has been comparatively little research in semi-arid or drought-prone areas, where agrivoltaic systems may outperform open-field cultivation.”
From a PV performance perspective, the researchers found that agrivoltaic systems have higher specific investment costs than conventional ground-mounted PV systems, with cost increases typically ranging from 20% to 90%. This is primarily due to the more complex and reinforced mounting structures needed to accommodate agricultural activities.
“The complexity of these structures also increases the environmental impact of agrivoltaic systems by roughly 20% compared to conventional ground-mounted PV systems,” Zainali said. “Additionally, under certain conditions, agrivoltaic systems may produce less specific energy than conventional PV systems due to higher soiling rates associated with agricultural activities.”
The team also emphasized the benefits of co-locating PV systems and crops, noting that crop selection based on albedo can influence irradiance reflection and PV energy performance. “The microclimate created by PV modules and crops can improve PV efficiency by lowering module operating temperatures through crop transpiration,” Ma Lu explained. “Lower module densities and specific agrivoltaic configurations, such as vertical installations, can reduce solar cell temperatures by up to 10 °C, further boosting efficiency.”
The researchers mapped global agrivoltaic potential and identified Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and Central and South America as offering the highest potential for these systems.
“We reviewed current guidelines, standards, regulations, and policies for agrivoltaics worldwide,” Ma Lu said. “Our survey shows that accurately predicting system performance before installation is crucial, especially for countries with crop yield targets such as Italy, France, Germany, and Japan. This has increased demand for precise modelling and simulation tools capable of linking system design, components, shading, ground irradiation, microclimate variations, crop yield, and energy production to optimize system design.”
“Advancements in modelling, simulation, and optimization must be complemented by fieldwork,” Zainali added. “In our paper, we identified at least five limitations in current field studies, including small-scale facilities with non-standard PV designs, a lack of comprehensive databases, insufficient standardized protocols or performance indicators, and short experimental durations.”
Finally, the researchers stressed that analyzing the techno-economic, environmental, and social aspects of agrivoltaics, as well as landscape impacts and suitable deployment areas, is critical to guiding policy development.
The research team comprised academics from Mälardalen University in Sweden, US National Laboratory of the Rookies (NREL), Italy’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the University of Science and Technology of China, the EU Joint Research Centre, and the Italian National Agency for New Technologies (ENEA), among others.
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