L R AS Published on Saturday 14 October 2023 - n° 461 - Categories:Europe
The capacity to install solar panels on European farmland
If 1% of the European Union's agricultural land were covered with solar panels, this would increase installed direct current capacity by 944 GW (or 0.9 terawatts). This would be five times more
than the Union's total installed capacity in 2022. So says the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). The researchers determined this figure by assuming an installed capacity of 0.6 MW per hectare, over a total surface area of 158 million hectares.
"If 5% of the agricultural area were covered with panels, the installed solar capacity would be between 1.5 and 7 TW. If 10% were covered, the total capacity would be between 3.2 and 14.2 TW. "
"A number of obstacles stand in the way of this PV coverage. The first is the lack of a clear definition of what agrivoltaics is or European standards, among others. A new definition of agrivoltaics could lead to changes in land characterisation when Agri-PV systems are installed on agricultural land. This change could have an impact on eligibility for agricultural subsidies. "
Secondly, there are technical challenges as well as constraints arising from authorisation and grid connection procedures.
Thirdly, there has been an increase in land prices, which has had an impact on farmers' welfare and security, but would make access to farmland more expensive.
Fourthly, whatever technological advances are made, technical challenges need to be overcome to maximise electricity production while taking biodiversity into account and without significantly compromising crop yields.
PV Magazine, 13 October 2023
Editor's note The disadvantage of this approach is that the surface area is always different from that shown on maps. There are always losses due to elements that are not reproduced on the maps.
The article does not indicate whether the 0.9 TW is enough to supply the electricity needed for consumption, or whether 5% or 10% of the agricultural area should be covered. It does not indicate the cost involved.
