Agrivoltaics — key to reaching net zero?

An “expert invite-only” agrivoltaics workshop has highlighted the need for specific guidance, further multidisciplinary research, and ongoing collaboration between the solar energy and agricultural sectors.

Macquarie University researchers led the first workshop in New South Wales to advance investigation into the adoption of agrivoltaics — the symbiotic use of land for both large-scale solar and farming — in the race to net zero.

“Australia has committed to an emissions reduction target of 48% and renewable energy target of 82% by 2030,”¹ said Dr Madeline Taylor, Senior Lecturer at the Macquarie Law School and member of Macquarie’s Transforming Energy Markets Research Centre (TEMRC).

“Large-scale solar is crucial to meeting these, but despite an abundance of land and sun, Australia is yet to adopt a thriving agrivoltaics sector. Allocating land to solar energy has generated growing concern in rural communities on its impact to agriculture, and in the race to net zero, it is critically important for Australian governments to invest in agrivoltaics to address these conflicts and balance the needs of communities.”

The TEMRC drew on the expertise of landholders, regulators, solar energy developers, engineers, economists and academic sectors to identify the existing legal, policy, market and technological barriers to agrivoltaics implementation.

Research has shown the benefits of activities such as horticulture and sheep grazing when occurring alongside and beneath solar rays. For example, solar panels provide shelter for sheep, and can encourage healthier pasture growth and reduced lamb mortality rates among other benefits.

The workshop participants recognised the benefits of agrivoltaics yet determined that the extent of these are dependent on how the project is integrated at the initial planning stage, calling for increased collaboration between landholders and energy companies.

“Multidisciplinary research, specific guidance and ongoing collaboration between the solar energy and agricultural sectors emerged as our key recommendations to facilitate the uptake of agrivoltaics,” Taylor said.

“There is an urgent need for further research and regulatory guidance to support the implementation of agrivoltaics in NSW to activate the benefits of this multifunctional land use for landholders and industry proponents,” said Professor Stefan Trueck, Director of the Transforming Energy Markets Research Centre.

Five key recommendations emerged from the workshop:

• The typologies of agrivoltaics/agrisolar require clear and consistent legal definitions.
• Specific and flexible planning guidance for agrivoltaics for both energy developers and landholders is needed.
• Agrivoltaics licensing and/or leasing requires further research and specific legal considerations including establishing clear protocols around issues like grazing management, vegetation maintenance, decommissioning responsibilities and providing flexibility to allow for different agricultural and ecological practices.
• Economic incentives to ensure agrivoltaics are feasible as an established sectoral market in NSW.
• Additional research and quantification on the benefits of agrivoltaics to safeguard grazing and horticulture co-location during the lifecycle of solar developments.
   

The TEMRC is spearheading a research program focused on agrivoltaics from a multidisciplinary perspective including regulation, economics, environmental science, planning policy, and engineering design optimisation. To read the full report summarising the key findings of the workshop, click here.

^{1 Australian Government, DCCEEW, Capacity Investment Scheme (2024) < https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/renewable/capacity-investment-scheme> accessed 30 August 2024.}

Image credit: iStock.com/Antonio Correa d Almeida