Are solar panels above potatoes the future?

KU Leuven has harvested the first potatoes grown under a solar park. According to the university, solar panels above agricultural land are the future, because agricultural land is simply precious.

The potatoes were harvested in Beernem, West Flanders. The trial with potatoes under solar panels is the start of a major research project, in which the Boerenbond and parties from the energy sector are collaborating with the University of Leuven. The idea of ​​farming under solar farms is called Agrivoltaics and promises to be a revolution in agriculture, according to the researchers.

Electricity is financially more attractive
"Producing electricity is more interesting from a financial point of view than growing crops," says professor of Bioscience Engineering Bram van de Poel. felt.be† "However, food must also be produced. That is why it is not the intention to sacrifice the harvest to energy. The crops under solar panels must remain profitable," continues van de Poel. The expectations are that the production loss will be limited to a maximum of 20%. That 20% is then compensated by the production of energy.

The KU Leuven researchers are investigating how the combination of crop cultivation and solar panels can be designed most efficiently. An attempt is made to calculate the optimal arrangement of the panels by means of a computer program. An important requirement for the combination is that the panels are high above the crop, so that sufficient light reaches the plants.

Difficult to combine with large machines
Crops that are already grown under shelter offer the most opportunities. These are, for example, strawberries and other fruit crops. Fruit already has to be protected against sunburn or hail storms, and the solar panels can help with that. The researchers also see opportunities for the cultivation of lettuce and spinach. Solar panels can reduce evaporation in warm, dry conditions; they thus offer a new form of climate control. The question is to what extent the large-scale cultivation of potatoes under a solar park really has a future. This is not easy to achieve with large machines that have to do their work under the solar panels. 

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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