Institutionals Agri PV: how the photovoltaics of the future work

Renewable energies are expected to reach a share of 80 percent of the German electricity mix by 2030 – this target was announced at the beginning of the year by Federal Minister Robert Habeck. However, there is still considerable progress to be made, as McKinsey makes clear in the latest Energy Transition Index. In practice, this means that it will be necessary to double the number of onshore wind farms, triple the number of offshore wind farms and quadruple the number of solar power plants to achieve this goal. 

But one question in particular remains: which areas are suitable for this expansion, especially for photovoltaic systems? The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action proposes that all suitable roof areas as well as commercial and private new buildings be used for solar installations. But this alone would probably not achieve the goal. This is where two innovative approaches that can harmonise agriculture and electricity production come into play: agri PV and floating PV. 

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE provides funding The agri PV concept is largely driven by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. It is based on the idea of enabling dual use of agricultural land – for food production on the one hand, and for energy generation by solar panels on the other. 

The concept allows a lot of flexibility to adapt to different agricultural use conditions and plant species. It can even optimise plant cultivation in hot regions by installing the panels above the plants, thus protecting them from excessive sunlight. In addition, extracted condensation water can be used for irrigation. Agri PV also fulfils additional agricultural functions in cooler regions: here, the panels can serve as protection against hail, frost or storms. 

The agri PV concept is still not very widespread, but figures from the Fraunhofer Institute show that demand is rising exponentially: the global output of agri PV plants has increased very significantly from 5 MWp (2012) to over 14,000 MWp – or 14 GWp – (2020) in just eight years. The technical potential for Germany alone is 1.7 TWp – i.e. one hundred and twenty times the capacity currently installed worldwide.  

Renewable energies are expected to reach 80 percent of the German electricity mix by 2030 – this target was announced at the beginning of the year by Federal Minister Robert Habeck. However, there is still considerable progress to be made, as McKinsey makes clear in the current Energy Transition Index. In practice, this means that it will be necessary to double the number of onshore wind farms, triple the number of offshore wind farms and quadruple the number of solar power plants to achieve this goal. 

But one question in particular remains: which areas are suitable for this expansion, especially for photovoltaic systems? The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action proposes that all suitable roof areas as well as commercial and private new buildings be used for solar installations. But this alone would probably not achieve the goal. This is where two innovative approaches that can harmonise agriculture and electricity production come into play: agri-PV and floating PV. 

Another innovative approach to floating PV is using unused water bodies to install floating solar panels. Reservoirs or flooded pits from open-cast mining, for example, are suitable for this purpose. Although this means that the areas are not used more than once, the floating facilities still fulfil an important purpose: The reason for this is that the solar modules cover a large part of the water surface, so that the lower solar radiation prevents the formation of harmful algae in the water. 

In addition, floating PV systems can also be optimally connected to hydropower or wind power to make better use of the surrounding areas and simplify maintenance processes. 

So far, floating PV is still in its infancy with a global output of around 2.6 GWp (early 2021). Nevertheless, here too, the technical potential of 44 GWp shows how much room for improvement the floating PV concept offers and what long-term development opportunities there are. 

Due to legal incentives and falling installation costs in the long term, innovative concepts such as agri PV and floating PV are expected to become further entrenched in the coming years. Thanks to their versatility, they offer an optimal opportunity not only for energy suppliers, but also for farmers and other economic operators to increase the economic potential of easy-to-use land while contributing to a more sustainable electricity mix. 

At Commerz Real, we pay a lot of attention to the development of such innovations in order to identify future-proof opportunities early enough and make them usable for us and our investors. In any case, the exponential prevalence of such technologies makes us optimistic – and shows what future methods of more sustainable energy production can look like.