The spatial socio-technical potential of agrivoltaics in Germany

Rösch C and Fakharizadehshirazi E

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2024, vol. 202, issue C

Abstract: Germany's goal of transitioning to renewable energy by 2045 presents a challenge of increased land-use competition. Agrivoltaics is a promising solution to this dilemma and benefits resilient food production and farmers' income. This study, for the first time, assesses the spatial land-use potential of agrivoltaics in Germany with a socio-technical Geographic Information System based on land use restrictions and suitability criteria. The study investigates small-scale agrivoltaics over suitable crops to enable farmers to benefit from the technology by their integration into high-value agricultural activities. The results show that agrivoltaics over permanent, moderate shade-tolerant and full shade-tolerant crops can achieve 88 % of Germany's PV energy target by 2030. About half of the 0.74 % of the German territory used for these crops has good soil quality, with a Soil Quality Rating over 60. From the small-sized permanent crop area (<2.5 ha) around 11 % is well suited due to favourable solar irradiation, orientation and slope. Most of this potential (79 %) is concentrated in the southern regions of Germany. The results indicate that agrivoltaics over permanent, moderate shade-tolerant and full shade-tolerant crops can contribute to resilient food production in small-scale farm businesses and to the political goal to increase land-based solar energy production. More financial support and further research are needed to identify the obstacles, and better understand stakeholders' perspectives on agrivoltaics and its integration into the landscape.

Keywords: Agrivoltaics potential; Agri-PV; Permanent crops; Soil quality; Geo-information systems; Socio-technical criteria; Solar energy; Acceptance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032124004325
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:202:y:2024:i:c:s1364032124004325

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.114706

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().