TY - JOUR
T1 - Vertical agrivoltaics and its potential for electricity production and agricultural water demand
T2 - A case study in the area of Chanco, Chile
AU - Bruhwyler, Roxane
AU - Sánchez, Hugo
AU - Meza, Carlos
AU - Lebeau, Frédéric
AU - Brunet, Pascal
AU - Dabadie, Gabriel
AU - Dittmann, Sebastian
AU - Gottschalg, Ralph
AU - Negroni, Juan Jose
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - This paper presents a cross-sector analysis of a 100 kWp vertical agrivoltaic (AV) case study in Chanco, Maule, Chile. Maule is an agricultural region facing recurring droughts, which put pressure on irrigated lands. The study investigates the potential of vertical AV in two ways: comparing the energy yield prediction of the photovoltaic component with a typical north-tilted PV plant and comparing the water demand of a reference crop in vertical AV with open field conditions. A PVLib and PVFactors python tools were used to evaluate energy production, while spatial evapotranspiration prediction incorporates wind speed and solar irradiation heterogeneities. Results for the climatic year 2021 indicate that a north-tilted power plant produced more energy than a bi-facial vertical AV plant, but the latter represents a significantly less impact on agricultural activities. The analyzed vertical AV presents a lower impact to the grid due to the two peaks in daily power production that spread the generation over the day and does not contribute to the overproduction in the midday that is currently being curtailed when high solar irradiance is present in Chile. Water savings of up to 1410 m3/ha were found in the study with the vertical AV installation mainly due to the reduced irradiation combined with windbreak effects.
AB - This paper presents a cross-sector analysis of a 100 kWp vertical agrivoltaic (AV) case study in Chanco, Maule, Chile. Maule is an agricultural region facing recurring droughts, which put pressure on irrigated lands. The study investigates the potential of vertical AV in two ways: comparing the energy yield prediction of the photovoltaic component with a typical north-tilted PV plant and comparing the water demand of a reference crop in vertical AV with open field conditions. A PVLib and PVFactors python tools were used to evaluate energy production, while spatial evapotranspiration prediction incorporates wind speed and solar irradiation heterogeneities. Results for the climatic year 2021 indicate that a north-tilted power plant produced more energy than a bi-facial vertical AV plant, but the latter represents a significantly less impact on agricultural activities. The analyzed vertical AV presents a lower impact to the grid due to the two peaks in daily power production that spread the generation over the day and does not contribute to the overproduction in the midday that is currently being curtailed when high solar irradiance is present in Chile. Water savings of up to 1410 m3/ha were found in the study with the vertical AV installation mainly due to the reduced irradiation combined with windbreak effects.
KW - Agrivoltaics
KW - Evapotranspiration
KW - Vertical bifacial PV
KW - Water demand
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171330054&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.seta.2023.103425
DO - 10.1016/j.seta.2023.103425
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85171330054
SN - 2213-1388
VL - 60
JO - Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
JF - Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
M1 - 103425
ER -
