Could solar power a small apple orchard be topped by solar panels?

DiTommaso and Grodsky are faculty fellows, and Zhang is a senior faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. A small experimental apple orchard at Cornell’s Hudson Valley Research Laboratory may soon be topped by solar panels, which would capture the sun’s energy and may prove beneficial to the trees.

How does an agrivoltaic system work in an apple orchard?

Conclusions An agrivoltaic system deployed in an apple orchard provides the trees with a less stressful environment and decreased irrigation requirements, maintaining a more favourable tree water status.

Do agrivoltaic panels protect apples from freeze damage?

An agrivoltaic system deployed in an apple orchard provides the trees with a less stressful environment and decreased irrigation requirements, maintaining a more favourable tree water status. Some observations of this study also indicate that the photovoltaic panels afford protection from freeze damage and induce a less alternate bearing behaviour.

Where can agrivoltaic systems be installed?

The agrivoltaic systems can be installed both on open-filed farms and in closed cultivated environments of greenhouses. At this time, most of the PV systems installed in cultivation environments are using conventional opaque PV modules.

Can agrivoltaics protect apples from hail?

Agrivoltaics – the idea of growing viable crops while concurrently harnessing the sun’s energy with solar panels – is not a new concept. Buono and his colleagues aim to demonstrate how the panels can be used to protect growing apples from extreme weather, including hail, in a changing climate.

What is the difference between shading nets and agrivoltaic systems?

While shading nets provides a uniform reduction in incident radiation, the agrivoltaic systems cause a discontinuous and more severe shading effect. Some studies investigated the effect of homogeneous and slight shading during a portion of the apple tree cycle.