The value of aesthetics for acceptance of agrivoltaics in the rural landscape
The purpose is to prevent and prevent an extensive setback in public opinion regarding solar energy installations on agricultural land. Thereby enabling, as well as speeding up, the transition to an energy- and resource-efficient society. This is done by reducing the research gap around the importance of aesthetics for resistance to (agrivoltaic) solar energy in the countryside. Through design methods, provide the knowledge base to be able to increase the long-term local acceptance of land resource-efficient agrivoltaic solar panels in the agricultural landscape as well as in peri-urban areas on the outskirts of cities.
Start
2024-09-01
Planned completion
2027-08-31
Main financing
Collaboration partners
Research area
Project manager at MDU
Agrivoltaics (AgriPV) allows simultaneous production of both food and energy on valuable agricultural soil. The appearance of the AgriPV can often elicit local resistance. Landscape users find the solar panels ugly. This project wants to preempt a negative turn in opinion on solar parks on agricultural land and thus make possible a rapid transition to an energy and resource efficient society. The project addresses the existing research gap on the influence of AgriPV on landscape experience. After field studies and focus groups a transdisciplinary group will develop several future prototypes to reveal norms, show alternatives and incite dialogue on AgriPV in rural and peri-urban contexts. A novelty is the collaboration between AgriPV researchers and researchers in speculative and normcreative design methods. The results will be presented in journals, conferences and popular media. Both academia (KTH, MDU) and industry (ILG, Lantmännen etc) participate.
Project objective
The purpose is to prevent and prevent an extensive setback in public opinion regarding solar energy installations on agricultural land. Thereby enabling, as well as speeding up, the transition to an energy- and resource-efficient society. This is done by reducing the research gap around the importance of aesthetics for resistance to (agrivoltaic) solar energy in the countryside. Through design methods, provide the knowledge base to be able to increase the long-term local acceptance of land resource-efficient agrivoltaic solar panels in the agricultural landscape as well as in peri-urban areas on the outskirts of cities.
The project objectives are to
1) conduct an overview of existing research on acceptance of, or resistance to, infrastructure for (agrivoltaic) solar energy in rural environments;
2) analyse the popular discourse around solar parks on agricultural land;
3) provide the basis for speculative design prototypes; and,
4) assess the energy and light performances of the proposed prototypes.
