PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Extreme weather events threaten agriculture. Conventional crop protection such as plastic tunnels no longer suffice and may even aggravate the effects of climate change, causing crop losses from tunnel collapse and heat build-up. Effective and cost-efficient climate adaptation measures are required that can be rapidly scaled up.
Agri-photovoltaics (Agri-PV) refers to the practice of using solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and food crops on the same land unit, generating both food and energy. Certain Agri-PV technologies have proven to be an effective solution in small-scale pilots.
This type of PV is allowed in five EU Member States, but in most EU countries the necessary legislation and standards are missing. The dual use of land (agri and PV) should be simplified. Technical scale-up, legal integration and rapid replication are also urgently needed, and there is still room for the improvement of technical details – e.g. compatibility with GPS-guided farm vehicles.
The proof of concept of ADAPT-PV had been delivered in small pilots prior to the LIFE project. The necessary next step was to demonstrate the effectiveness of ADAPT-PV in three climate areas at business operation scale fruit holdings across Europe.
OBJECTIVES
LIFE ADAPT-PV aimed to demonstrate translucent photovoltaic panels built over crops. A robust, permanent steel structure and panels made of hardened glass should withstand extreme weather, protect the crops from physical weather impacts and provide a more stable microclimate. At the same time the solution would produce power and could be a viable investment by itself – by the farmer themself or by external financiers.
The project was to prove the win-win situation, the combination of fruit cultivation and PV (dual land use) as follows:
- delivering equal fruit quality while adding the benefits of harvesting renewable energy (PV);
- reducing crop damage and costs resulting from extreme weather conditions;
- avoiding the use of plastic shielding and corresponding large amounts of costs and waste;
- yielding economic profits on the agricultural side as well as on the energy investment side.
An additional focus was on legal aspects and on standards to enable dual land use for Agri-PV and simplify its implementation in the countries and regions of the demonstration, as well as other countries.
Although the primary topic was the adaptation to adverse effects of climate change, climate mitigation (via renewable energy production) and waste reduction were also considered.
Furthermore, the project aimed to provide a method of shared financing through which farmers would be able to choose their financial engagement in the transition to Agri-PV from zero to full investment.
RESULTS
The project could not be fully realised and only reached the design phase. The project experienced a series of important setbacks, mainly due to the very long permission duration, complex permitting conditions or lacking grid connection capacity. Also, the unfavourable market environment impacted the project’s feasibility. Therefore, the project had to be stopped by end of March 2025 before construction started.