Estimation Model of Agrivoltaic Systems Maximizing for Both Photovoltaic Electricity Generation and Agricultural Production

Daisuke Yajima, Teruya Toyoda, Masaaki Kirimura, Kenji Araki, Yasuyuki Ota () and Kensuke Nishioka
Additional contact information
Daisuke Yajima: Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Teruya Toyoda: Graduate School of Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Masaaki Kirimura: Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Kenji Araki: Faculty of Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Yasuyuki Ota: Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
Kensuke Nishioka: Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Agriculture and Engineering, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Climate change and increasing food demand are global issues that require immediate attention. The agrivoltaic system, which involves installing solar panels above farmland, can simultaneously solve climate and food issues. However, current systems tend to reduce agricultural production and delay the harvest period due to shading by the solar panels. A delayed harvest period impacts the income of farmers who wish to sell produce at specific times. Incorporating a model that calculates the amount of electricity generated by solar irradiation, this study establishes a model to estimate the correct start date of cultivation for solar panel covered crops to ensure the correct harvest date and determines the expected income of farmers by calculating agricultural production and power generation. Using taro cultivation in Miyazaki Prefecture as a case study, the model estimated that the start date of cultivation should be brought forward by 23 days to ensure the ideal harvest period and agricultural production. This would prevent an opportunity loss of USD 16,000 per year for a farm area of 10,000 m 2 . Furthermore, an additional income of USD 142,000 per year can be expected by adjusting shading rates for the cultivation and non-cultivation periods.

Keywords: agrivoltaic system; farming photovoltaics; solar radiation; climate change; increasing food production; photosynthetic photon flux density (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/7/3261/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/7/3261/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:7:p:3261-:d:1116628

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().