2023 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 19-26
To clarify the effect of setting organic photovoltaic (OPV) panels on tomato fruit production, we examined the yield, fruit quality, plant growth, and photosynthetic characteristics of tomatoes in greenhouses with OPV (OPV greenhouse) and without OPV (control greenhouse) during fall-winter and spring-summer cultivations. We installed 86 and 106 OPV panels on the OPV greenhouse for fall-winter and spring-summer cultivations, respectively. During both cultivations, solar radiation inside the OPV greenhouse decreased compared with the control greenhouse. Although there was no significant difference in yield between the control and OPV greenhouses in both cultivations, fruit dry matter weight in the OPV greenhouse was 23% lower than in the control greenhouse in the fall-winter cultivation with lower solar radiation. We also investigated plant growth and photosynthesis-related traits in both greenhouses during fall-winter and spring-summer cultivations. The results showed that photosynthesis-related traits decreased in the OPV greenhouse for both cultivations, whereas plant growth decreased significantly during fall-winter cultivation compared with spring-summer cultivation as with the fruit dry matter weight. These results indicate that OPV panels reduced the fruit dry matter weight and plant growth in periods of low solar radiation, suggesting that solar sharing in tomato cultivation is effective when solar cells are removed during periods of low solar radiation and installed during periods of high solar radiation.
