The French photo voltaic developer TSE, along with the Alliance BFC, revealed the preliminary outcomes of a pilot examine in France on how photo voltaic panels can have an effect on soybean progress.
From pv journal in France
TSE inaugurated the primary agrivoltaic demonstrator on area crops in France final 12 months. The experimental undertaking is provided with its “agricultural cover,” which is a big cover with rotating photo voltaic panels positioned on cables 5 meters above the fields.
The farm grows soybeans, wheat, fodder rye, winter barley, and rapeseed, along with housing 150 cows. It has confronted highly regarded and really dry summers for the final 10 years. TSE put in the PV system to learn from its shade, in addition to cut back evapotranspiration and temperature through the summer time. The agrivoltaic system produces 3.2 GWh of electrical energy per 12 months.
The French developer has now offered the primary outcomes of the undertaking. Soybeans have been sown in early June 2022 in an space spanning 3 hectares. The location is roofed with a PV cover. For the primary check, six several types of soybeans have been planted, which have been harvested in Oct. 12, 2022.
The teams noticed strong progress of soybeans, with regular flowering, fertilization, and physiological maturation. The six varieties examined confirmed a yield range: as much as 25% distinction in yield below the cover and 19% within the management area.
“Regardless of a robust heterogeneity within the atmosphere and particularly the soil, the info obtained, particularly for the Soprana selection, point out very promising outcomes for future harvests: no vital distinction for in whole yield and the variety of pods of soybeans outdoors. and below the cover, with a better 1000 kernel weight below the cover,” stated TSE.
Relating to temperatures, the agrivoltaic cover gives higher safety in opposition to thermal stress throughout warmth stroke: the best temperature noticed below the cover is 1.2 C decrease than the management space. The soil below the PV system stays cooler and retains higher humidity: on common, readings present -3.5 C at a depth of 30 cm within the middle of the system from June to mid-August.
As well as, the water potential was discovered to be larger below the cover. Throughout flowering and the start of grain filling, soybeans within the management zone are below water stress, not like soybeans below the PV cover.
“After this era, I noticed injury within the management space, whereas the soybeans planted below the panels have been higher protected,” stated farmer Sylvain Raison.
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