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WOMEN IN AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE
Panels and pastures: Australia’s Agrivoltaic opportunity
By Karin Stark
As solar energy projects rapidly expand across the regions of Australia, a new approach is needed to balance clean energy development with the preservation of farmland, community support, and long- term benefits for farmers. Agrivoltaics, the combining of farming and solar panels on the same parcel of land, offers a promising solution. The concept of integrating solar panels over crops and horticulture is still emerging in Australia, whereas it has been successfully implemented in various other countries for several decades. This innovative approach not only aids in food security, given it ensures land is still used productively and can open up new opportunities in new locations for shade loving plants, but also supports renewable energy goals and decarbonization efforts. Japan stands out as a leader in agrivoltaics, cul- tivating around 120 different crops beneath solar panels including rice, cereals, vegetables, mush- rooms, fruit trees, tea, coffee, and ornamental flowers. This practice is largely driven by land scar- city and is incentivised through feed-in premiums, which offer financial benefits to the energy develop- ers as well as farmers depending on the business model. In Japan, agrivoltaic systems must ensure at least 80 per cent of agricultural yield compared to prior conditions, highlighting the commitment to maintaining agricultural productivity alongside solar energy generation. Solar panels must also be
installed at a height of at least 2 metres (6.6 feet), allowing sufficient light for crops beneath. A consideration is that agrivoltaics systems can require more land to produce the same amount of energy as ground mounted systems. The amount of land required by stilted agrivoltaic systems is typically 20 per cent to 40 per cent more than that of ground-mounted PV (photovoltaic) systems. This means that stilted, overhead agrivoltaic systems have a capacity of 500 to 800 kilowatt peak per hectare, while a conventional ground- mounted PV system can achieve 700 to 1100 kilo- watt peak per hectare.
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