Harvesting sunlight

Agrivoltaics combine agriculture and solar power by installing photovoltaic panels above or alongside crops. Think of it as crops wearing solar-powered sunhats. The panels generate renewable electricity, while the shade can reduce heat stress and water loss for certain plants. Farmers get food, energy, and fewer sunburnt lettuces.

Eurac Research’s role in this collaboration is to bring scientific know-how to the table. That includes assessing system designs, technologies, and monitoring tools to understand what works, what doesn’t, and where agrivoltaics make sense. The focus is on regions where climate change is already reshaping agriculture, such as Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Near East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

One question often comes up early: why would farmers change the way they work? Or, as it was put during a recent discussion, “What might make people reluctant or willing, to adopt these systems?

According to agrivoltaics expert Luís Fialho, the answer is closely linked to soil health. “In many areas with high solar radiation, the soil has been used for farming for many years, often under intensive conditions. As a result, the soil is usually poor and depleted,” he explains. “High solar radiation can bleach the soil and kill the humus layer.” By placing solar panels above crops, agrivoltaic systems help limit that exposure.

“Shading combined with the resulting microclimate helps the soil recover. It’s a win–win situation,” Fialho says. The panels reduce direct UV radiation, keep temperatures lower, and limit stress on plants and soil. This also means less evapotranspiration, so crops need and lose less water.

The benefits go beyond soil health. Shading from solar panels also offers protection against extreme weather events. “When you have hail or extreme rainfall, agrivoltaic systems can help protect crops,” Fialho notes.

Modern agrivoltaic systems can even move. Some use tracking technology, allowing panels to change position. While tracking is usually designed to maximize electricity production, it can also serve agriculture. “This same tracking can be optimized for cultivation,” Fialho explains, “for example to increase sunlight during flowering or to provide protection during a hailstorm. Electricity production doesn’t always have to be the only priority.”

But the project does not stop at food and energy. It also looks at desalination integration. Desalination is the process of turning salty seawater or brackish groundwater into fresh water, but it requires large amounts of energy. Agrivoltaics offer a way to power desalination units using on-site solar electricity.

In practice, this means solar panels produce electricity not only for the grid or the farm, but also for desalination units that generate fresh water. That water can then be used to irrigate crops growing underneath the panels. Sunlight becomes electricity, electricity becomes water, and water grows food.

This approach is especially relevant in dry or coastal regions where sunshine is abundant but freshwater is limited. By combining agriculture, energy production, and water supply on the same land, desalination-integrated agrivoltaics reduce pressure on resources and cut reliance on fossil fuels.

Markets, however, are not all at the same stage. “One of FAO’s goals is to bring lessons from more mature markets like Italy, France, or Germany, to other countries,” Fialho explains. “That way, we can share good practices, tools, and lessons learned.”

In the end, the aim is simple: put agrivoltaics into wider practice. Not as a choice between food, energy, or water, but as a way to produce all three on the same land. If done correctly, farms may become places where crops grow, power is produced, water is supplied, and pressure on land is reduced – all under the same sun.