U.S. researchers from Colorado University, National Laboratory of the Rockies, Colorado State University, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture have developed a framework showing that wider spacing between solar PV rows can make agrivoltaic systems economically viable for large-scale mechanized farming. Their simulations in Colorado demonstrated that optimized row spacing maintains crop production while improving combined agricultural and energy revenues. The study found that wider-row agrivoltaic solutions can provide economic benefits over traditional utility-scale PV systems, with $200/acre in agricultural profit justifying spacing panels at least 9.662 m apart. The framework defines different PV row-spacing scenarios, determines installed PV capacity, incorporates agricultural equipment constraints, calculates crop revenues, estimates electricity generation and revenue, and calculates metrics such as net present value and levelized cost of energy. The team simulated a 160-acre project in Colorado with different crop scenarios and PPA prices, highlighting the sensitivity of results to equipment size.
Increased spacing between solar module rows boosts agrivoltaics viability
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