Agri-voltaic system to increase land productivity and income

Abstract

Agri-voltaic system showed as a potential option to grow crops and generate renewable energy from a single land unit. The system is best suitable for those areas where solar irradiation is available in plenty and land productivity potential is comparatively low. Additional advantage of agri-voltaic system is its ability to harvest rainwater from the top of Photovoltic modules. The harvested rainwater can be used for cleaning of deposited dust on Photovoltic modules and to provide supplemental irrigation to crops. The agri-voltaic system can be connected to grid through net metering system to supply te Photovoltic generated electricity and earn an income of ` 7.5 lakh acre/year. Otherwise, the off-grid agri-voltaic system can be used to operate solar Photovoltic pumping system in farmers' field. Apart from income by selling the Photovoltic generated electricity, farmers can also earn income from crop production. Overall, the land equivalent ratio can be improved by installation of agri-voltaic system in farmers' field.