Performance Analysis of Agrivoltaic System Configurations in Nordic Conditions

This study compares the energy yields, ground shading, and financial impacts of several agrivoltaic (APV) system layouts in high-latitude conditions. APV systems allow farmland to be combined with energy production, thus reducing the land-use conflict between photovoltaic systems and food production. APVs have been gaining popularity worldwide, including in Nordic countries and other high-latitude locations where solar energy has received little attention until recently. High latitude locations face different conditions than low latitude locations because of different sun elevation angles, day length, and weather patterns. Because of this, system configurations must be optimized for these conditions. We analyzed three APV configurations of 1 MW that include 1) vertically mounted east-west facing bifacial panels, 2) a single-axis tracker system, and 3) a south-facing overhead system at separations of 8, 10, 15, and 30 m. The tracker system had the highest specific yield (1.26–1.39 kWh/kW). However, the two production peaks of the vertical system more closely matching high spot prices of electricity resulted in the highest capture price of electricity produced by the vertical system (43.77–43.83 EUR/MWh).