Agrivoltaics means producing food and solar electricity on the same land, with panels arranged so crops, grass or livestock keep their place.
On these sites, farming stays the primary use of the land.
It is one of the newer routes covered in the renewable energy guide, which places it alongside rooftop, utility-scale and offshore options.
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| Overhead clearance | Modules are mounted at least 2.1 meters above the ground. |
| Heggelbach test site | Land-use efficiency increased to 186 percent. |
| Global capacity | Installed capacity is at least 14 GWp worldwide. |
| EU farmland potential | Covering 1% of utilised farmland could give approximately 944 GW DC. |
| EU definition | No clear, harmonised definition is a significant obstacle. |
Figures come from Fraunhofer ISE and the European Commission’s JRC; this information can change, so check the sources for current details.
What agrivoltaics means
Fraunhofer ISE, the German research institute that has worked on the technology for years, describes agrivoltaics as a process for the simultaneous use of agricultural land for food production and PV power generation. The aim is to add solar capacity on open land without consuming fertile arable soil that food production still needs.
The idea is different from a conventional solar farm, where the ground below the panels is usually kept for the plant alone, and different from a field that simply happens to host a few turbines or a rooftop array on a barn. On an agrivoltaic site, farming stays the primary use of the land. The panels are installed so that tractors, harvesters or grazing animals can still reach the ground, and so that enough light arrives for photosynthesis. Related terms such as agri-PV, agrisolar and dual-use solar all describe the same family of designs.
Interest has grown because land is a limiting resource for solar. Sharing the land is one way to ease that competition.
Main system types
The Fraunhofer ISE guideline for Germany, in its latest edition, sorts agrivoltaic installations into groups that follow the German standard DIN SPEC for agri-PV systems. The most important split is the height and layout of the modules.
Overhead systems
In overhead (stilted) systems, the modules sit high above the ground and the farmed area lies underneath. The Fraunhofer ISE guideline places the modules at least 2.1 meters above the ground in this category, which leaves room for machinery. Overhead layouts suit orchards, berries, vineyards, hops and vegetable growing, where partial shade can protect plants from sun and hail.
Interspace systems
Interspace systems stand close to the ground in rows with wide strips between them. Crops or grass grow in the strips, and machinery drives along them. They are simpler and cheaper to build than stilted structures, and they have less impact on the landscape, but they use the land less efficiently because the rows and their footings take up space that can no longer be farmed. Pasture and fodder production are common applications.
Greenhouses and other closed systems
Photovoltaic greenhouses, which use semi-transparent modules in the roof, are a separate closed category. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission also mentions them as one option under the agrivoltaic umbrella. Fraunhofer ISE treats open systems and closed systems separately because greenhouses involve different engineering, climate control and costs.
What research shows about yields and land use
The best-known European test site is on the Heggelbach farm near Lake Constance in Germany, where a research team built an overhead plant above arable fields. According to the Fraunhofer ISE guideline, the project showed that with the PV system, land-use efficiency rose 60 to 86 percent, and the dual use of land for agrivoltaics and potato growing increased land-use efficiency on the Heggelbach test site to 186 percent, set against separate potato and solar plots of the same size.
The same guideline reports that crops adapted more effectively during dry spells, because the panels cast shade that reduces evaporation and heat stress. That effect depends on the site and the crop, so good designs start from the crop, not from the panel layout.
Electricity yield per hectare is another benchmark. In the Fraunhofer ISE guideline, growing solar on farmland is described as considerably more efficient than growing energy crops, since it generates 32 times more power per hectare than growing maize as a biofuel. That comparison is a main argument for using agricultural land for solar rather than for energy crops.
Scale and potential in Europe
Worldwide, agrivoltaics is still a small segment, but it has grown quickly. The Fraunhofer ISE guideline puts global installed capacity at at least 14 GWp worldwide. Estimated potential for stilted, overhead agrivoltaic systems in Germany alone is roughly 1700 GWp, according to the same source.
At EU level, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre assessed the opportunity in a study announcement. It reported that covering just 1% of the EU’s utilised agricultural area could result in approximately 944 GW DC of installed capacity. That is above the 720 GW DC capacity foreseen by 2030 in the EU Solar Energy Strategy, and well above the 211 GW DC that the EU had installed at the end of 2022. The JRC adds that this is less than conventional ground-mounted PV could fit on the same surface, around 1,809 GW DC, which shows the trade-off: less capacity per hectare, but without taking the hectare out of farming.
These are technical potentials, not forecasts. Grid connections, permitting, financing and farmer acceptance decide how much of that capacity is built.
Economics and benefits for farms
Agrivoltaic electricity has to compete with ordinary solar. The Fraunhofer ISE guideline states that solar levelized costs today sit in a range of 4–11 euro cents per kilowatt hour, depending on the size of the system. Agrivoltaic structures, especially stilted ones, need taller frames and wider spacing than a standard ground-mounted plant, so costs depend heavily on the farming concept.
The benefits sit mostly on the farm side. A farm can use part of the power itself, which cuts the electricity it buys, and sell the rest as a second source of income. At the Heggelbach pilot, a battery storage device with 150 kWh capacity boosted the farm’s share of self-used power, as noted in the guideline’s description of the plant. Readers who want the details of pairing generation with storage can find them in the article on battery storage for solar.
Protective effects add value for specialty crops. Panels can slow hailstones and provide shade, which reduces damage in orchards and vineyards that face hail, frost and drought. Farmland can also host wind turbines, and the article on onshore wind power explains how that works, since turbines take up little ground while the land between them stays in production.
Rules, standards and obstacles
The biggest barrier at EU level is a missing definition. The JRC notes that the lack of a clear and EU-harmonised definition of agrivoltaic presents a significant obstacle, because installing such systems may change how land is classified, which could affect eligibility for agricultural subsidies and for taxation. Other challenges it names include keeping crop yields intact, protecting biodiversity, complex permitting and grid connection, and rising land prices.
The EU Solar Energy Strategy encourages member states to integrate incentives for agrivoltaics when they design and implement their common agricultural policy national strategic plans, according to the same JRC announcement. Support through renewable energy tenders is another route it mentions.
Germany has set out a technical definition in its DIN SPEC for agri-PV, which requires that primary agricultural use is kept. Under the standard as summarised by Fraunhofer ISE, land loss after installing the PV system must not exceed 10 percent of the total project area for category I (overhead) and 15 percent for category II (interspace). A clear definition like this helps decide which projects qualify for support and which count as ordinary solar parks.
What to look for in a project
- Crop first. The crop, its light needs and the machinery it requires decide the height and row spacing.
- Measured yields. Credible projects publish crop results from the same site, not only the electricity output.
- Land retained for farming. A standard such as the German DIN SPEC gives a test for how much ground stays productive.
- Local acceptance. The Fraunhofer ISE guideline devotes a section to engaging citizens and stakeholder groups.
Frequently asked questions
What is agrivoltaics in simple terms?
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It is solar power and farming on the same land. The panels are raised or spaced so that crops, grass or animals can still use the ground below or between them.
Do crops grow under solar panels?
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Yes, if the design suits the crop. Crops that benefit from some shade or from protection against hail and heat suit the concept best, and the design has to be matched to each crop.
Is agrivoltaics cheaper than a normal solar farm?
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Usually not per kilowatt-hour, because the structures are taller and more elaborate. The extra value comes from the farm income, the crop protection and the avoided land competition.
Why does the EU need a definition of agrivoltaics?
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Without one, installing panels on farmland can change the land’s classification, which may affect agricultural subsidies and taxation, as the JRC points out.
