An Approach to Assess the Impact of High Biaxial Photovoltaic Trackers on Crop Growth and Yield

Abstract

The growing need for producing renewable energy such as photovoltaic electricity, and the mitigation of the increasing occurrences of heatwaves and drought affecting annual crops, could be addressed by the installation of agrivoltaic systems. Depending on pedoclimatic context, cultivated crop, solar panels technology and implementation configuration, solar panels shading can improve or reduce crop growth and yields. Among photovoltaic installations, solar trackers might have a high development potential. These photovoltaic panels are mounted on a vertical axis at a 7m height. Thanks to their height, their biaxial moving capacity, their small anchoring surface and their punctual structure making plants design easily adaptable to agricultural constraints, they can fit with all types of agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of such trackers on crop growth and yields. For this purpose, a set of 6 different fields crop located in western France were studied. Crop phenology, height and yield were investigated. Results showed a delay in crop development near the trackers that was overcome late in the crop cycle, near harvest. For crop height and crop yield, the results showed important spatial variability but without clear trend related to the tracker shadow. The results are discussed in the light of new perspectives, including the consideration of microclimatic and pedological data to better explore the effects of trackers on plant growth and development, the measurement of morphological and physiological traits of plants, the accounting of a multi-trackers effect implemented on the same site, the temporal dynamics of the effect of a tracker.