Europe has found solar energy underground, in search of a real historical treasure. It is a project that is just as striking as this oasis of solar energy. The combined use of the land for energy generation and agricultural production allows the agrovoltaic energy It is considered one of the essential tools to make progress towards ‘smart agriculture’ and to mitigate the advance of climate change. The major challenge of this merger is to combine a highly efficient production model in the agricultural sector without damage to the environment.
So things, the agrovoltaic energy represents an innovative solution to minimize impacts related to the primary sector, as it can, among other things, increase the efficiency of crops and reduce their impact on the environment.
The idea of combining different types of renewable energy with agriculture has its origins in a concept first coined by the Germans in 1981. Armin Zastrow j Adolf Götzbergerfounder of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).
However, agrivoltaic energy only became popular a decade later with the advent of performance studies conducted by the French Christophe Dupraz. This system of agricultural activity, closely linked to the smart farmingis based on the development of agrovoltaic installations through the installation of photovoltaic panels on land intended for agriculture or livestock farming.
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SUNFarming will prove their worth patented agrovoltaic systems in the 753 MW project being implemented in Germany. This capacity is planned to be installed on 500 hectares of land in 8 German districts.
With 753 MW it is the largest agrivoltaic project Europe rises inside Germany in 8 districts, with the local agrovoltaic specialist SUN agriculture GmbH collaborates with a French multi-technical service provider SPIE to install a substation for installation.
The initiative has reached the stage of obtaining the building permit for a period of four years. SUN agriculture created the agricultural concept for Steinhöfel Climate Park in combination with agricultural advice for local farms and farmers in the area.
The construction of this agrivoltaic project is planned for an area of approximately 500 hectares. There will be two-sided glass-glass solar panels at a minimum height of 2.10 meters.
Once the photovoltaic solar panels are installed, the agricultural land will be used to generate perennial forage crops and as temporary pasture for raising calves and heifers. “It is the largest groundbreaking project of SUN agriculturewhich we have successfully developed in just under four years with the approval of the statutes in all districts,” he appreciated Martin Tauschke, co-founder and CEO of SUNfarmingaccording to the company’s website.
In this ambitious collaboration SPIE will be committed to obtaining the building permit and planning the start-up, in addition to obtaining the necessary materials for the substation, assembly and commissioning. The energy produced in the installation is injected into the electricity grid using 4 transformers.
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Construction work on the substation is forecast to start in the third quarter of 2025 and be ready for use in the second quarter of 2026.
With this project Europe relaunches agrovoltaic energy by finding solar energy underground. A tree with which it optimizes the production of solar energy and promotes other typical products of the earth (for example oil in olive groves), according to this surprising study.