TY - JOUR
T1 - Balancing photovoltaic development and cropland protection
T2 - Assessing agrivoltaic potential in China
AU - Xia, Zilong
AU - Li, Yingjie
AU - Guo, Shanchuan
AU - Jia, Nan
AU - Pan, Xiaoquan
AU - Mu, Haowei
AU - Chen, Ruishan
AU - Guo, Meiyu
AU - Du, Peijun
N1 - The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Professor Encai Bao from the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences for his invaluable help and insightful discussions. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 42330106.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Institution of Chemical Engineers
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - The expansion of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations has precipitated a growing conflict for land resources between energy generation and agricultural production. Agrivoltaics, which integrate PV systems with crop production, have emerged as promising solutions to alleviate land-use conflicts. This research integrates spatial data on PV installations with agricultural productivity figures to assess the impact of China's PV expansion on croplands and estimate the yield potential for six main crops under agrivoltaics. The results disclose a substantial incursion of PV plants into croplands, totaling 911 km2 by the year 2020. Compared to PV installations causing these croplands to be completely abandoned, agrivoltaics in a full-density PV system scenario could preserve up to 139 km2 of cropland with a corresponding crop yield of 7.1 × 104 tons, which is 9 % of the crop yield in a no-PV scenario. In a half-density PV system scenario, agrivoltaics could conserve 585 km2 of cropland with a corresponding crop yield of 4.6 × 105 tons, which is 55 % of the crop yield in a no-PV scenario. A regional distinction is observed, with northern agricultural regions demonstrating a more favorable agrivoltaic yield potential than the south. This study provides valuable insights for developing policies and best practices related to implementing agrivoltaics and PV spatial planning, thus steering a more sustainable coexistence of China's energy production and agricultural yield imperatives.
AB - The expansion of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations has precipitated a growing conflict for land resources between energy generation and agricultural production. Agrivoltaics, which integrate PV systems with crop production, have emerged as promising solutions to alleviate land-use conflicts. This research integrates spatial data on PV installations with agricultural productivity figures to assess the impact of China's PV expansion on croplands and estimate the yield potential for six main crops under agrivoltaics. The results disclose a substantial incursion of PV plants into croplands, totaling 911 km2 by the year 2020. Compared to PV installations causing these croplands to be completely abandoned, agrivoltaics in a full-density PV system scenario could preserve up to 139 km2 of cropland with a corresponding crop yield of 7.1 × 104 tons, which is 9 % of the crop yield in a no-PV scenario. In a half-density PV system scenario, agrivoltaics could conserve 585 km2 of cropland with a corresponding crop yield of 4.6 × 105 tons, which is 55 % of the crop yield in a no-PV scenario. A regional distinction is observed, with northern agricultural regions demonstrating a more favorable agrivoltaic yield potential than the south. This study provides valuable insights for developing policies and best practices related to implementing agrivoltaics and PV spatial planning, thus steering a more sustainable coexistence of China's energy production and agricultural yield imperatives.
KW - Agrivoltaics
KW - Crop yield
KW - Renewable energy
KW - Shading rate
KW - Sustainable food system
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200920172&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.spc.2024.08.001
DO - 10.1016/j.spc.2024.08.001
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85200920172
SN - 2352-5509
VL - 50
SP - 205
EP - 215
JO - Sustainable Production and Consumption
JF - Sustainable Production and Consumption
ER -
