2020 Volume 82 Issue 4 Pages 380-389
Owing to global climate change and the aging population of farmers, potential reductions in crop production and a decline of agriculture are of increasing concern in Japan. Establishment of efficient agrivoltaic systems is considered important for achieving a low-carbon society and for recruiting farmers. However, the relationship between crop productivity and power generating efficiency remains to be investigated. In this study, three different solar panel regions were set up in a paddy field and the effect of the sunlight conditions on the cultivated rice was evaluated. No significant correlation was observed between the rice productivity and sunlight conditions tested. This suggested more scope for increasing the panel-to-area ratio and the number of panels on the same frames in the agrivoltaic system analyzed.
