Recording of Tuesday, June 18, 2024 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 15:12 .

Agri-PV Business Model Innovations Essential for Scaling Sustainable Agricultural and Energy Solutions, Emphasizes Expert

AgriPV, a concept marrying agriculture and photovoltaic (PV) solar energy production, has been around for about 40 years. Despite significant hardware innovations in the past decade or so and upcoming software advancements, there is an essential need for business model innovation to ensure scalable solutions. This discussion emphasizes integrating agricultural activities into PV plants through diverse collaboration contracts with farmers across different countries. The presentation highlights that Agri-PV projects must consider various farming systems' diversity—farm sizes, production types, geographies—and how these factors influence both Agri-PV solutions and business models. Essential criteria include regulatory compliance, risk management for long-term viability, competitiveness, and forward-looking adaptability amidst climate change. Key elements of effective business models encompass economic risks on the PV side like permitting risk and agricultural yield regulations; compatibility issues from the agricultural perspective such as integration within existing farm operations; revenue stacking opportunities including non-agricultural revenues; crop performance considerations beyond simple metrics; adaptable integrated investments tailored to specific agri-PV systems; sharing development activities among stakeholders; involving farmers financially in projects’ success; and leveraging energy communities to enhance project competitiveness. A collaborative approach using diverse tools can help navigate this complex landscape effectively.

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Speaker

Emilien Simonot
Head of Agrivoltaics EMEA and APAC
Lightsource bp
UK

Talk of session: Agricultural PV: How to Tap into Europe's Huge Potential for Solar Power in Agriculture

Several European countries have implemented their first agricultural PV projects and policymakers are starting to recognize the benefits of this technology. Governments have been adopting regulatory frameworks that enable both food and power production. Agricultural PV has positive effects on biodiversity and nature, as well as revenues. But is the business case for agricultural PV really compelling enough for farmers to adopt it at a large scale? This session will discuss: Latest projects and regulatory changes in various European agricultural PV markets Business models integrating ‘Nature Based Solutions' from pilot projects to utility-scale agricultural PV power plants Why biodiversity is turning into a hot topic in agricultural PV Fireside chat: How to convince food farmers to adopt solar farming.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome & Introduction

Speaker

Eva Vandest
Head of Public Affairs
Amarenco
Austria

To Talk

Results of EU Call for Evidence and Agri-PV Potenbal in Europe

Speaker

Ignacio Asenjo
Policy Officer
European Commission
Belgium

To Talk

How Biodiversity and Soil Are Turning Into a Hot Topic for Agri-PV

Speaker

Stephan Schindele
Head of Product Management Agri-PV
BayWa r.e. AG
Germany

To Talk

Challenges and Success Factors in the Development and Implementation of Utility-Scale Agri-PV Projects in Germany

Speaker

Fabian Neu
Senior Expert Agri-PV
RWE Renewables Europe & Australia GmbH
Germany

To Talk

Why Eastern & Central Europe Governments Implement Supportive Policy Frameworks for Agri-PV Targets

Speaker

Jiri Bim
Head of Agrivoltaic Section
Czech Solar Association
Czech Republic

To Talk

Panel Discussion: How to Convince Food Famers to Become Solar Farmers as Well on a Large Scale?

To Talk