Optimized design of agrivoltaic systems in Sweden (Opti-APV)
The overarching goal of this project is to contribute to the development of a strong and internationally competitive APV industry in Sweden, with agriculture maintained. This will be accomplished by developing unique tools for the optimal design, simulation, optimization, and location of agrivoltaic systems and by building a unique dataset for the implementation and operation of agrivoltaic systems.
Start
2022-09-01
Planned completion
2026-11-30
Main financing
Collaboration partners
Research area
Project manager at MDU
External members of the project
Jens Isemo, CEO, Linde Energi AB
Peter Ström, head of electricity production, Linde Energi AB
Joakim Johansson, manager electricity business area, Linde Energi AB
Axel Alm, CEO, Solkompaniet Sverige AB
Fredrik Wedelstam, business & project developer, Solkompaniet Sverige AB
Cecilia Edling, business developer, Solkompaniet Sverige AB
Karin Dschulnigg Ekh, project manager, Solkompaniet Sverige AB
Max Koszela, vice president utility, Solkompaniet Sverige AB
Project description
Sweden has set the extremely challenging targets of achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2040 and no net greenhouse gases emissions by 2045. Nevertheless, the current installed PV capacity is far below the planned capacity required for a fully renewable electricity system. Moreover, large-scale PV systems installed on agricultural land have received several criticisms, mostly related to ethical reasons connected to the use of land for energy purposes rather than for food production. The combination of agricultural activities and PV systems in the same land in the so-called agrivoltaic systems, can overcome these criticisms and improve the combined system profitability, bringing significant benefits to the PV industry and farmers. The combination of crop production and electricity production can lead to higher land use efficiency and shorter payback times as compared to conventional ground-mounted PV systems.
Project objectives
The overarching goal of this project is to contribute to the development of a strong and internationally competitive APV industry in Sweden, with agriculture maintained. This will be accomplished by developing unique tools for the optimal design, simulation, optimization, and location of agrivoltaic systems and by building a unique dataset for the implementation and operation of agrivoltaic systems.
Specific objectives of this project connected to the main identified research questions are:
- evaluate the effects of different agrivoltaic systems designs on different type of crops by comparing measurements from a small-scale and large scale agrivoltaic system
- develop a cutting-edge simulation and optimization tool by performing dedicated lab-based and field-based crop experiments concerning the photosynthetic rate response to radiation levels
- investigate the economics of Agrivoltaic systems considering small and large-scale projects, different designs, and technology integration, to evaluate business models for technology adoption
- identify with a GIS approach the feasible and optimized locations and scale-up of the model to assess the potentials of APV on a country level by performing spatially explicit simulations and optimizations.
