Introduction: Agrivoltaics Moves from “Proof of Concept” to “Large‑Scale Deployment”

In early 2024, the global agrivoltaics sector reached a critical turning point, transitioning from technology validation to large‑scale deployment. Large benchmark projects in multiple European countries entered construction phases, China achieved important breakthroughs in technological innovation and policy, and the North American market began to accelerate its catch‑up. These projects collectively demonstrate the economic, social, and environmental viability of the “solar above, farming/livestock below” win‑win model.

According to industry forecasts, the global agrivoltaics market is expected to reach US$9.3 billion by 2031, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.1%. Behind this growth lie multiple drivers: efficient use of land resources, agricultural adaptation to climate change, and the expansion of renewable energy.

Part One: Europe – Benchmark Projects Set Industry Standards

Europe is the most mature region for agrivoltaics. France, Germany, Italy and others have made agrivoltaics a core pillar of their energy strategies. In early 2024, several landmark large‑scale projects moved forward.

1. Sicily, Italy: 67 MW Project Funded by PNRR, Integrating Social Sustainability

In December 2024, Repower‘s agrivoltaics project in Ciminna, Sicily, received funding from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), including a non‑repayable investment grant and a 20‑year guaranteed electricity tariff.

The project has a capacity of 67 MW and covers 150 hectares, combining PV power generation with sustainable agriculture. Repower is partnering with the Rita Atria Libera Terra cooperative, which promotes legal agriculture on land formerly controlled by the mafia. The cooperative will grow olives, almonds, cereals, lavender and saffron, while raising 100 dairy sheep and more than 100 bee hives.

Construction is planned to start in spring 2025, with commercial operation in June 2026. Expected annual generation is about 120 GWh. A disused building will be converted into a facility for storing and processing agricultural products. Marco Ceroni, CEO of Repower Renewable Energy, said: “Agrivoltaics combines power generation with agriculture, achieving future‑oriented land use.”

2. Germany: Multiple Large‑Scale Projects Define Europe‘s Largest Agrivoltaics Cluster

Tützpatz 80 MW Project (Vattenfall): In Tützpatz, north‑eastern Germany, Vattenfall is building an 80 MW agrivoltaics plant covering 93 hectares, equipped with nearly 150,000 bifacial modules. A distinctive feature is the use of tracking systems: the solar panels can follow the sun from east to west. During harvest and tillage, the modules can be tilted to a steep 60° angle, leaving space for large agricultural machinery. Part of the project is used for free‑range chicken farming (up to 15,000 chickens), with modules installed at a steeper angle and greater height to prevent the chickens from flying onto them.

Steinhöfel Climate Park (SUNfarming): SUNfarming‘s Klimapark project in Steinhöfel is one of Europe’s largest agrivoltaics projects, covering about 500 hectares. It uses bifacial glass‑glass PV modules installed at a minimum height of 2.10 metres, enabling effective light and water management. The site will be used for perennial fodder production and temporary grazing of calves and young heifers. SPIE is responsible for the design and installation of the substation; grid connection is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026.

Significance of the Tützpatz Project: Claus Wattendrup, Head of Vattenfall‘s solar business, noted: “In Tützpatz, we are combining agriculture and renewable power generation on a scale never seen before. This project represents true pioneering work to prove that sustainable agriculture and energy production can complement each other perfectly.”

3. Economic Validation of Agrivoltaics

What makes the Tützpatz project particularly noteworthy is that it sells its electricity through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with no state subsidy. This shows that, under appropriate technical design and market conditions, agrivoltaics has already achieved commercial competitiveness. Early trials on winter wheat and potatoes indicated that in sunny and dry years, the shade provided by the PV panels can actually increase crop yields.

Part Two: China – Technological Innovation Solves the “Land Competition” Dilemma

China is the world‘s largest PV market, and the development of agrivoltaics has followed a winding path from policy tightening to technological innovation. In early 2024, under the twin constraints of “food security” and the “dual‑carbon” goals, technological breakthroughs opened new horizons for agrivoltaics.

1. Liquan County, Shaanxi: Horizontal Single‑Axis Trackers + Diffuser Panels Increase Wheat Yield

In August 2024, China National Radio reported a successful innovative agrivoltaics pilot in Liquan County, Shaanxi Province. Responding to earlier problems where agrivoltaics led to grain yield reductions and prioritised solar over agriculture, the project developed a new technology: “horizontal single‑axis PV tracker + diffuser panels arranged alternately for supplementary lighting”.

Technical principle: Unlike conventional north‑south fixed‑axis PV panels, this technology uses an east‑west single‑axis tracking mode, improving sunlight‑tracking efficiency and increasing ground‑level sunlight transmittance by more than 30%. With PV modules and light‑diffusing panels arranged alternately, the diffuser panels scatter sunlight precisely onto the ground shaded by the modules, mitigating adverse effects on crop photosynthesis.

Third‑party yield measurement results: Under identical soil fertility conditions, the innovative agrivoltaic model achieved a yield increase of 0.4% to 4.5% compared with the control group – a win‑win outcome of increased wheat yield and enhanced PV performance.

Tao Guangyuan, a core member of the project‘s research team, explained that the team is also developing a water‑collecting bag device for agrivoltaics, using movable PV panels to collect rainwater for timed, targeted drip irrigation. Experimental data show that the device is equivalent to adding 100 mm of rainfall, with far‑reaching implications for agriculture in arid and semi‑arid regions.

Policy follow‑up: In May 2024, the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other agencies jointly held a site visit in Liquan County to learn from the experience and promote its demonstration. Zhang Rui, a professor at Northwest A&F University, suggested that agrivoltaics should adopt “strict access rules and pilot by category”, while clarifying the grain production responsibilities of PV and agricultural enterprises to avoid prioritising solar over agriculture.

2. Large Projects Continue to Advance: National Energy Group‘s 600 MW Project Listed as Major Project in Shandong

In January 2024, the 600 MW composite agricultural PV project of Longyuan Power’s Shandong Company in Fushan Town, Zhaoyuan City, was included in Shandong Province‘s 2024 list of major projects.

The project uses a “solar above, farming below” composite land‑use model, with a total capacity of 600 MW and about 980,000 PV modules. Once fully operational, it is expected to generate about 700 GWh annually, saving about 250,000 tonnes of standard coal and reducing CO₂ emissions by about 520,000 tonnes per year.

3. SP Group 240 MW Project in Huizhou, Guangdong

In September 2024, Singapore energy company SP Group announced the deployment of a 240 MWp agrivoltaics project in Huizhou, Guangdong. The project combines PV power generation with agricultural land use and is scheduled for full operation by the end of 2024. Over 25 years, it is expected to generate 7.5 billion kWh of green electricity, reduce coal consumption by 920,000 tonnes, and avoid 4.46 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

4. Datang Hancheng 180 MW Agrivoltaics Project EPC Contract Awarded

In September 2024, a consortium of China Energy Engineering Group Zhejiang Institute and Zhejiang Thermal Power was awarded the EPC contract for the Datang Hancheng Zhichuan 80 MW and Xizhuang 100 MW agrivoltaics projects.

The Zhichuan project has a DC capacity of 96.41 MWp, using a combination of fixed and flexible mounts across 37 sub‑arrays. The Xizhuang project has a capacity of 60.72 MWp, also using fixed and flexible mounts. Once completed, the projects will alleviate electricity supply pressure in Shaanxi and contribute to local energy saving and emission reduction.

Part Three: North America – Market Awakening and Policy Framework Development

Compared with Europe and Asia, agrivoltaics in North America started later, but 2024 is seeing accelerated catch‑up.

1. Significant Market Potential

Research by Joshua Pearce of Western University shows that using just 1% of Canadian farmland could meet one‑quarter to one‑third of the country‘s electricity demand. In the United States, the Department of Energy’s Solar Futures Study estimates that under a scenario where solar provides 45% of electricity by 2050, more than 10 million acres of land may be needed.

2. Policy and Research Efforts Advancing

USDA and DOE jointly held their first three‑day national meeting in January 2024, gathering farmers, PV developers and other stakeholders to hear views on the potential impacts of agrivoltaics.

American Farmland Trust launched its “Smart Solar” initiative, updating policy recommendations for federal, state and local governments. Core principles include: prioritising solar development on built‑environment and marginal agricultural land, protecting soil health, promoting agrivoltaics to maintain agricultural production, and ensuring farmers are full partners in the energy transition.

University research networks: Cornell University, Iowa State University, Ohio State University, Oregon State University and others are establishing interdisciplinary programmes. The University of Illinois has received a four‑year, US$4 million USDA grant to conduct agrivoltaics trials in Arizona, Colorado and Illinois.

Annual academic conferences: The US and Canada have respectively begun holding annual agrivoltaics academic conferences.

Part Four: Emerging Market Explorations – Diversified Pathways for Agrivoltaics

1. Haiti: Off‑Grid Agrivoltaics Tackles Energy Poverty and Food Security

In 2024, the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) published a study assessing the feasibility of combining agrivoltaics with solar microgrids in rural Haiti.

Haiti faces a double challenge: less than 2% of the rural population has access to electricity, and nearly half the population faces severe hunger. The best land traditionally used for solar deployment is also often the best for small‑scale farming. Agrivoltaics, as a land‑sharing solution, is emerging as a new focus among solar developers, agricultural experts and researchers.

2. Chile: Theoretical Potential of Agrivoltaics for Blueberry Cultivation

A study published in 2024 conducted the first national‑level assessment of the theoretical potential for combining blueberry cultivation with agrivoltaics in Chile. The research found that the theoretical installed capacity of blueberry agrivoltaics in Chile is 13.4 GWp, which could provide 22% of the country‘s current electricity generation while reducing irrigation demand by nearly 18 million cubic metres per year.

Part Five: Technology Trends – Four Key Dimensions of Agrivoltaics

Early‑2024 agrivoltaics projects show the following technology trends:

Outlook

The development of agrivoltaics in 2024 shows that the sector is moving from “whether it can be done” to “how to scale up”. Large projects in Italy, Germany and China are providing replicable business models and technical standards for the world.

Farmers still have a “healthy scepticism” about agrivoltaics – likened to “farming around obstacles”. As Ethan Winter of American Farmland Trust put it: “We need more producers to raise their voices to ensure a balance between energy production and agricultural production.”

With the maturation of trackers, bifacial modules, smart light‑supplementation and other technologies, and as the economics of agrivoltaics continue to be validated, the vision of “both food and solar” is moving from aspiration to reality.

In a Nutshell

In early 2024 – from the 67 MW social agrivoltaics project in Sicily to Vattenfall‘s unsubsidised 80 MW Tützpatz plant, from the wheat‑yield‑increasing technology breakthrough in Liquan, China, to the construction of policy frameworks in North America – agrivoltaics is proving, through diverse technological pathways and business models, that food security and clean energy can be achieved together.