Agrivoltaics (or agri-PV) refers to a concept in which agricultural land is simultaneously utilised for PV electricity production. Although this method has clear advantages, it also means that the PV modules must be installed in such a way that the use of agricultural machinery is still possible. Compared to conventional ground-mounted PV systems, this results in a significantly higher ground clearance of at least 4-5 metres or more compared to the usual 0.8 metres.

With the help of two students I.F.I. has analysed the effects of the increased ground clearance on the wind loads of PV systems after conducting tests in our wind tunnel.

Now that the extensive data has been analysed, we have gained sufficient knowledge to be able to offer our customers research-based wind assessments and wind load calculators for agrivoltaic systems. The values presented serve as the basis for the structural calculations of the systems and the subsequent design of the wind loads at the respective location.
For projects with very specific substructures or arrangements, we can also analyse the system-specific wind loads in our wind tunnel and determine customised values.

We have recently presented the results of our studies on two international conferences on wind engineering :

on the conference of the WTG in Aachen (https://windfx.net/) and on the ICWE in Florence (https://www.icwe2023.com/).

Your contact for enquiries on agri-PV-systems: Daniel Markus