‘They know the land’ farmer input and crop research key to UK agrivoltaics progress

University of Sheffield research finds agrivoltaics could be key to addressing land-use conflicts in England. Paper authors tell pv magazine a better understanding of how top UK crops perform alongside PV installations is needed, and farmer input is crucial.

Farmer engagement and more crop research are key to unlocking significant PV potential on Great Britain’s farms, according to the authors of new University of Sheffield research on agrivoltaics.

In their paper, “The spatial potential for agrivoltaics to address energy-agriculture land-use conflicts in Great Britain,” set to appear in Applied Energy, researchers used multicriteria spatial analysis (MCSA) to identify the best locations for agrivoltaic systems in Great Britain. They found significant overlap between quality farmland and suitable conditions for PV.

“The loss of our best-grade land is a concern of communities,” paper co-author Talitha Neesham-McTiernan told pv magazine. “Anything communities are worried about is worth investigating.”

Richard Randle-Boggis, also a co-author, said local communities often cite loss of agricultural land parcels when objecting to solar projects. “Farmers and solar developers like the same things, flat land and sunlight” he said.

Neesham-McTiernan explained that the MCSA analysis involved selecting parameters and variables which are important for agrivoltaics, before consulting with industry experts to weigh each in terms of level of importance. The process produced a numbered value which is used to determine agrivoltaic suitability for each parcel of land.

“For us, we used distance to grid connection, current connection capacity taking into consideration theoretical PV output,” Neesham-McTiernan said. The researchers also incorporated slope and aspect of the land, agricultural land classification and around ten variables such as temperature, flood risk, soil textures and chemical properties into the model.

Southeast England was identified as the region with the greatest proportion of land with a high PV suitability score, followed by the east of England. The analysis revealed 92% of land with highest suitability for PV overlaps with agricultural land.

Most solar parks in Great Britain are installed on farmland, and the researchers found 79.5% are situated on agricultural land graded 1-3 on the Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) system, with 19.3% located on “best and most versatile” (BMV) land with grades 1 and 2 – more than double previous estimates. These are the areas identified as having a high risk of land-use conflict. The paper suggests agrivoltaics could alleviate these conflicts.

However, more research is needed. In the east of England, the researchers noted that a high potential for land-use conflicts was “particularly concerning” given the region “has already experienced the largest loss of BMV land compared to any other region.” More than one quarter of Great Britain’s wheat, potatoes and field vegetables are farmed in the region. A better understanding of how agrivoltaics would interact with Great Britain’s major crops has potential to support PV deployment without reducing crop yield. Neesham-McTiernan said further research should look at “how solar can be integrated so that farmland can be maintained.”

One of the best ways to proceed, according to the researcher, is to consult with farmers, many of whom will already have first-hand knowledge of integrating PV with agriculture.

“The [National Farmers Union] quoted about 70% of British solar is installed by farmers,” said Neesham-McTiernan . “Integrating with livestock, buildings – farmers are ahead of policy and research in the UK. They’re leading development of solar into agrivoltaics at the moment.“

Randle-Boggis agreed, stating that farmer engagement is “essential” to developing agrivoltaics in Great Britain.

“They know the land and how farming can be developed within an agrivoltaic solar park,” he said.