Demonstration site #2Region-Denmark

Context:

Photovoltaic (PV) on land is developing fast and is occupying agricultural land. The idea of agrivoltaic is to integrate PV and farming with the aim of occupying less land and investigating possible win-win solutions. The crop production can also deliver energy products apart from food and feed. This may be optimised in different ways to optimise total output of energy carriers per hectare of land. Doing so, it is still important to avoid negative side-effects on environment, nature, or climate.

What solutions will be developed?

An agrivoltaic platform is established with vertical and fixed tilt panels in comparison. Currently, winter wheat, grass-clover and blue lupine are produced at the platform and yield and quality analysed. On top of this, Value4Farm will use the harvested grass-clover (and possibly leaves of lupine) for green biorefining in order to extract a protein concentrate, while generating a side-stream for biogas. Cover crops will be integrated, which may be biorefined or used directly for biogas together with straw from the winter wheat. Power from PV will be used for methanation of the CO₂ part of the biogas.

What are the objectives and targets?

The whole production system on field and in the biorefinery and biogas plants will be analysed for its energy and climate balance. Nitrate leaching, soil carbon etc. is followed to ensure that no negative side-effects will occur. The objective is to increase carbon capture and production of renewable energy at farm, while keeping an efficient and sustainable food production on the land.