German renewable energy company BayWa has raised €6.5 million funding from the European Union’s (EU) LIFE Programme to advance 6 agrivoltaic projects planned for 5 nations. 

Of the 6 projects, 3 are planned for France, Spain and the Netherlands where the focus will be on fruit farming at scale with solar panels installed on site. BayWa said these fruitvoltaic projects will increase their resistance to climate change by providing a combination of crop protection and generation of green solar energy with an innovative financing model. 

Remaining 3 projects will explore agrivoltaic or agri-PV facilities alongside arable crops as summer and winter wheat or soya in Germany, Spain and Italy. The company said it wants to demonstrate how the agrivoltaic model can support farmers to lower their carbon emissions in land use. 

It will be the 1st project researching agrivoltaics and traditional crops at such a large scale in Germany, it added. 

BayWa says these facilities will generate vital data that can refine future projects of similar nature with an aim to make them commercially viable. The company has not specified any individual capacity of these projects. 

“This initiative could potentially develop our understanding in a lot of key environmental areas,” stated Representative of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, established by the European Commission, Brend Decker. 

All these projects are being funded under EU LIFE ADAPT-PV which is EU’s funding instrument for environment and climate action that also supports Farm to Fork strategy to promote sustainable food system. 

BayWa added that the 6 projects are underpinned by a major element of Farm to Fork which is the need for a circular land use economy. 

Recently, a report of the European Commission’s Joint Research Center estimated the bloc to achieve 944 GW DC agrivoltaic capacity using only 1% of its currently Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA), thus exceeding the 720 GW DC target (see Agrivoltaics Can Help Exceed Targets Under EU Solar Strategy). 

Agrivoltaics was one among the innovative PV applications discussed at the recent TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on Advanced Solar Module Innovations. Click here for a conference summary.