Can we grow crops under solar panels instead of trees?

Traditionally, agricultural and agroforestry systems used multilayered plantings by, for example, cultivating shade-tolerant crops such as coffee under bananas. Now, with growing demand for clean energy but a paucity of empty land, researchers are exploring how to grow crops under raised solar panels (photovoltaics) instead of trees.

How do photovoltaic panels affect plant growth?

In the morning and late afternoon hours, the position of the photovoltaic panels was altered to reduce crop shading, whereas at solar noon, shading was increased to reduce evapotranspiration and adverse effects of high temperature and excessive radiation on plant growth.

Can Broccoli grow under photovoltaic panels?

Researchers in South Korea have been growing broccoli underneath photovoltaic panels. The panels are positioned 2-3 metres off the ground and sit at an angle of 30 degrees, providing shade and offering crops protection from the weather.

Does reduced PV module density reduce incoming radiation?

In a field experiment where different lettuce varieties were cultivated under an APV facility, Marrou et al. (2013c) found that with reduced PV module density with a panel row distance of 3.2 m, up to 73% of incoming radiation was available at plant level.

Can agrivoltaic systems be combined with solar PV?

Associating food crops and solar PVon the same land area which is referred as agrivoltaic systems (also denoted as Agrophotovoltaics, APV) (Dinesh and Pearce 2016; Santra et al. 2017) is among the most developing techniques in agriculture that attract significant researches attention in the past ten years (Fig. 1 a).

Which crops can be grown under PV panels?

Tomato, lettuce, pepper, cucumbers and strawberries are the most studied crops under PV panels (Fig. 5). The recent literatures for applications of selective shading systems on the aforementioned crops and others plants are reviewed in the following sections.