Fraunhofer ISE and German climate safety specialist VOEN Vöhringer are testing an agrivoltaic system that makes use of current crop cowl buildings to assist photo voltaic modules, eliminating the necessity for a devoted mounting system.
Jochen Siemer
From pv journal Germany
Fraunhofer Institute for Photo voltaic Power Programs ISE and climate safety specialist VOEN Vöhringer are testing an unconventional agrivoltaic system on a cherry orchard in Higher Swabia, Germany. The system goals to scale back the price of agrivoltaics.
Typical agrivoltaic setups for fruit cultivation require metal substructures, which should both be constructed on open, unused land or put in between current bushes or shrubs – typically with important effort.
Fraunhofer ISE and VOEN Vöhringer as a substitute use the present substructures for protecting nets and foils. As a result of these can solely assist gentle masses, the mission group developed a light-weight module idea weighing lower than 5 kg per sq. meter, with a possible output of 420 kW per hectare.
Felix Basler, mission supervisor at Fraunhofer ISE, mentioned two components sometimes drive up agrivoltaic system prices in comparison with ground-mounted PV: the development of mounting buildings and the set up of the modules. “Along with creating cheap light-weight modules, we have now designed and examined varied options for his or her uncomplicated set up on conventional climate safety techniques in specialty crop cultivation,” added Basler.
Leo Vöhringer, mission supervisor at VOEN, mentioned the setup is “extremely easy” as a brand new building or retrofit answer. “It was vital to align an agrivoltaic idea with fruit-growing practices, and never the opposite manner round,” he defined, including that the climate safety may be stowed beneath the modules when not wanted.
The take a look at facility stands in Berg close to Ravensburg, on the grounds of Obstbau Vöhringer, a sister firm of VOEN Vöhringer. It spans two rows of cherry bushes, every about 40 meters lengthy. The group is monitoring the system’s electrical energy output and harvest yield, utilizing customized software program to simulate the optimum module dimension to keep away from shading-related crop losses. They anticipate to finish the analysis by year-end.
The analysis mission is funded by the German state of Baden-Württemberg. In southern Baden-Württemberg alone, fruit bushes beneath netting or movie cowl greater than 5,000 hectares.
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