Green energy and better crops: Tinted solar panels could boost farm incomes
A research study by academics from the University of Cambridge and co-authored by Hamish Watson (CEO Polysolar) has just been published in Advanced Energy Materials.
The study into Agrivoltaics, the concurrent agricultural production of crops and photovoltaic generation on the same land, used Polysolar’s tinted semi-transparent solar glass to explore the solar selective utilisation of different light wavelengths on plant yields.
The experiment resulted in gross financial gain of +2.5% for basil and +35% for spinach under test. While the marketable crop yield did not significantly change the protein content of the plants importantly increased. The study concluded Agrivoltaics can enrich the portfolio of farmers, mitigate risks associated with climate, and vastly enhance global photovoltaics capacity without compromising agricultural production.
For read full paper go to: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aenm.202001189