Strawberry fields forever, and with transparent #PV
Scientists have grown strawberries under thin-film cadmium telluride panels with varying transparency. They found that 40% transparency maintained a greater than 80% yield of uncovered plants. If all strawberry farms in the world were converted to #agrivoltaics, they would produce up to 173 TWh a year.
by Lior Kahana, February 25, 2025
"The experiment started on February 20, 2024; data was collected across 112 days. Per the results, the average fresh weight of the control strawberries was up to 50.8 g. The 10% transparency module had underneath a fresh weight of up to 9.5 g, the 30% had 15 g, the 40% had 25.5 g, the 50% had 20 g, the 60% performed with 19.5 g, the 70% with 51.7 g and the 80% transparency had an average fresh weight of 30.7 g.
"'The results indicate that strawberries grown under 70% transparency PV modules exhibited a fresh weight 140.6% of the average control,' the group said. 'Additionally, yields exceeding 80% of the control were observed with 40%, 50%, and 80% transparent PV modules, which makes their deployment legal for areas that have agrivoltaics policy based on maintaining a greater than 80% yield.'
"Based on their data, the academics conducted a statistical analysis that proved that the transparency rate impacts the growth yield. This analysis found a strong positive correlation between the measured photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and strawberry fresh weight, with Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) of 0.693. PAR represents the portion of light that plants use for photosynthesis.
"In addition, the researchers used their results and the system advisor model (SAM) software to estimate the electricity generation potential of strawberry agrivoltaics farms in Canada and globally. They found that the Canadian potential ranges between 595 GWh and 1,786 GWh annually, depending on the transparency level of the modules. That will result in a CO2 emission reduction of 65 kilotons (kt) to 196 kt annually. On a global scale, the electricity potential of strawberry fields ranges between 58 TWh and 173 TWh, and the CO2 reduction is between 27 Mt and 82 Mt annually.
"'The adoption of agrivoltaics in the Canadian strawberry sector could facilitate energy self-sufficiency and transform it into a net electricity exporter, generating additional revenue for farmers,' the team concluded. “These findings highlight the substantial benefits of agrivoltaics, including enhanced agricultural productivity, significant clean energy generation, increased farmer income, and lower food prices.'"
Read more:https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/25/strawberry-fields-forever-and-with-transparent-pv/
#FoodSecurity #SolarPunkSunday #SolarCells #SolarPower #SolarPunk #RenewableEnergy #RenewablesNow #TransparentSolarPanels #TransparentPhotovoltaics #TransparentsPV
So, you can grow your veggies and charge your phone at the same time? Sheffield's 'agrivoltaics' promises a utopian future where farmers become solar techs overnight. Next up: farming drones to harvest both crops and Wi-Fi. 
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