Implementing Community-based Agrivoltaic Systems in SSA: Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

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Recording of Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | The smarter E Europe 2024 | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 14:46 .

Challenges and Mitigation Strategies in Implementing Community-Based Agrivoltaics Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa Highlighted by Fraunhofer Institute's Research

The speaker, a social scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, introduces their presentation on research outcomes from an agrivoltaics project focused on community-based systems. The project pertains to mitigating challenges in implementing such systems within West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Key agricultural activities in these regions include rain-fed farming and pastoralism, which face significant issues due to unreliable rainfall patterns leading to low productivity and food insecurity. Agrivoltaics, combining agriculture with solar energy generation on the same land, shows potential benefits like crop protection and reduced evaporation. The APV MAGA (Agrivoltaics for Mali and the Gambia) project aims to evaluate different technical systems' economic viability while focusing on social implementation aspects. Research indicates that successful projects hinge largely upon human behavior—how people use, install, or finance technologies—as well as political agendas of stakeholders, cooperation during planning phases, public acceptance issues, maintenance concerns post-implementation.

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Speaker

Jessica Berneiser
Researcher
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Germany

Talk of session: Off-Grid: Decentralized Water-Energy-Food Nexus

In this session, we take a look at the latest developments in decentralized water-energy-food supply technologies and systems.

Further Talks of this session:

Welcome and Introduction

Speaker

Dr. Philipp Blechinger
Head of Unit Off-Grid Systems
Reiner Lemoine Institut gGmbH
Germany

To Talk

Improve Access to Water and Food With Decentralized Energies

Speaker

Bärbel Höhn
BMZ Special Representative for Energy in Africa
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Germany

To Talk

Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) as Driver for a Green Development

Speaker

Stefan Trittler
Head of Innovation / Project Principal
Asantys Systems GmbH
Germany

To Talk

Planning of Integrated Water-Energy-Food-Environment Systems Using Open Software

Speaker

Julian Fleischmann
Reseracher and PhD Student
University of Freiburg

To Talk

Decentralised Renewable Energy Innovations to Boost Agri-Sector Productivity & Address Global Food System Challenges

Speaker

Deepak Mohapatra
Senior Officer - Business & Market Development
Alliance for Rural Electrification
Belgium

To Talk

Q&A Round

To Talk

Partners & Sponsors

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