An Efficient Structure of an Agrophotovoltaic System in a Temperate Climate Region

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify an efficient agrophotovoltaic (APV) system structure for generating electricity from solar radiation without causing an adverse impact on crop growth. In a temperate climate region, it is critical to design an APV system with appropriate structure with the maximum amount of electricity generation because, unlike in desert areas, strong solar radiation is only available for a few hours a day. In this study, APV systems with three different shading ratios (i.e., 32%, 25.6%, and 21.3%) were considered, and the optimum structure in terms of electricity efficiency and profitability was investigated via nonlinear programming. Moreover, an estimation model of electricity generation was developed via a polynomial regression model based on remote sensing data given by the APV system located at Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services in South Korea. To evaluate the impact of the APV on crop production, five different grain crops—sesame (Sesamum indicum), mung bean (Vigna radiata), red bean (Vigna angularis), corn (Zea mays), and soybean (Glycine max)—were cultivated in the system. As a result, the proposed optimization model successfully identified the best APV system structure without reducing existing crop production.

Exploring the operational potential of the forest-photovoltaic utilizing the simulated solar tree

“…The principle of the forest-photovoltaic is that the solar tree utilizes the remaining sunlight used for forest growth. The agrophotovoltaic system is a concept that produces crops and electricity in parallel in farmland and has recently been widely known as the solar sharing theory 12 , 13 . As the word itself means, the forest-photovoltaic system is to apply the concept of the agrophotovoltaic system to forests.…”

Performance Estimation Modeling via Machine Learning of an Agrophotovoltaic System in South Korea

“…In fact, the countries (e.g., South Korea, Japan, and China) in Northeast Asia are exposed to a relatively small amount of solar radiation during the day. In particular, South Korea has a daily average global solar radiation of (11)(12)(13) MJ/m 2 , and a solar panel can generate electricity for only 6.83 h per day on average [10]. This implies that considerable land has to be used as solar farms (or PV farms).…”

“…Due to the limited land to build solar power plants, many farms have been transformed into solar power plants (or solar farms) [9]. Regarding solar power efficiency, solar power plants have to be installed in the southwestern region, where large-scale habitable area exists [12]. Since most lands in the southwestern region have been used as farms, it is necessary to adopt the Agrophotovoltaic (APV) system that generates solar power without causing serious harmful impact on the food supply of South Korea.…”

Simulation Modeling of a Photovoltaic-Green Roof System for Energy Cost Reduction of a Building: Texas Case Study

“…AnyLogic ® is a well-known multimethod simulation platform so that it is reliable and flexible to develop a generalized estimation model of a green roof in future [19]. To be more specific, the green roof model can be extended with existing smart grid models for cleaner city design or Agrophotovoltaic systems which have photovoltaic (PV) solar panels over green roof grids in an urbanized farming environment [20][21][22]. The proposed simulation consists of multiple estimation models such as surface temperature model, energy consumption model, and water usage model.…”