A solar farm is a field filled with hundreds or thousands of solar panels facing the sun. At the same time as producing energy, solar panels cover the land, which is not completely without gaps, but rather presents a visual effect to some extent because it does not lie flat on the ground and has certain support frames and tilt points.
Traditional agriculture is a relatively high-risk business as it largely depends on weather and climate conditions. If the sun and rain are just right, without extreme storms, strong winds, etc., there is no need to worry about all these environmental factors, and there is still income, which is of course very perfect. In addition to farm cultivation, solar farms have also discovered another niche market – agricultural photovoltaic (or APV). For an environmentally conscious world, whether it is agricultural integrated enterprises or society, this is a remarkable idea.
Previous research has been conducted near Lake Boden, which borders Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Over the past year, the pilot project used 720 double-sided solar modules covering approximately one-third of an area. Researchers installed solar panels high enough to allow crops to receive almost the same amount of sunlight as natural growth, which is beneficial for power generation and allows for the use of appropriate mechanical farming techniques.
Tests have shown that agriculture and photovoltaics are compatible. It reduces competition for land and improves work efficiency, while providing additional income for farmers. One of the main reasons why farmers are turning to solar agriculture is for guaranteed economic benefits and a stress free lifestyle. Even if natural conditions are incompatible with the needs of planting culture, photovoltaic devices can still work together with traditional agriculture and generate income.
Now there is also a technology that uses solar panels to make greenhouse, and achieves partial light transmittance through differential solar cell arrangement and placement, which can not only achieve shading, but also greatly reduce the energy demand of such agricultural photovoltaic greenhouse. Agricultural photovoltaics is a new way of combining solar energy technology with traditional agriculture, meeting one’s own needs while also benefiting society.
To learn more about solar panel related knowledge, please feel free to contact us, the solar panel manufacturer – Huanqi Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.