Periodic Reporting for period 3 - HyPErFarm (HYDROGEN AND PHOTOVOLTAIC ELECTRIFICATION ON FARM)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-11-01 bis 2024-12-31
The sustainable development goals of the UN and climate targets of the EU require that all economic sectors sharply reduce fossil-based use. However, the agricultural sector has the potential to not only greatly defossilize, but even produce energy – and that not to the detriment of, but alongside with food production. Photovoltaic (PV) has become dramatically more competitive relative to other renewable energy sources, and is now as competitive as wind power. Currently, PV-parks are installed on large land areas, leading to loss of land for cultivating crops. The ideal solution is provided by combined agrivoltaic systems with dual land use for crop production and simultaneous power production.
The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate the effective decarbonisation of farms by agrivoltaics while maintaining the crop yield. In order to do so, we designed and set up agrivoltaic systems, on which we demonstrated different use cases for the energy produced, showing the technical feasibility, accompanied by an overarching study on the efficacy. The project aimed to provide a clear show and business case for farmers to facilitate the implementation of producing renewable energy on farm and its local deployment. The main focus of the project was to demonstrate in a cost-effective manner that local energy production by integrating agrivoltaic systems on agricultural land is economically beneficial for farmers, while resulting in energetic self-sufficiency, sustainability and enhancement of farm resilience.
Not only technical feasibility was examined, HyPErFarm also focused on the involvement of farmers and policy makers via workshops, citizen-consumer acceptance, public perception analysis and farmer adoption studies.
The project’s impact was that agrivoltaic systems moved upwards to TRL7-8, and attractive new business models were accessible for farmers. HyPErFarm thus supported a game-changing radical innovation and contributes to the building of a low fossil-carbon, climate-resilient future EU farming that can also supply local communities with power and hydrogen. HyPErFarm partners have the ability to adopt and further develop the new farming practices, to provide the new technologies required, and to adopt new APV-business models that will allow continued food production on land used for power production.
The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate the effective decarbonisation of farms by agrivoltaics while maintaining the crop yield. In order to do so, we designed and set up agrivoltaic systems, on which we demonstrated different use cases for the energy produced, showing the technical feasibility, accompanied by an overarching study on the efficacy. The project aimed to provide a clear show and business case for farmers to facilitate the implementation of producing renewable energy on farm and its local deployment. The main focus of the project was to demonstrate in a cost-effective manner that local energy production by integrating agrivoltaic systems on agricultural land is economically beneficial for farmers, while resulting in energetic self-sufficiency, sustainability and enhancement of farm resilience.
Not only technical feasibility was examined, HyPErFarm also focused on the involvement of farmers and policy makers via workshops, citizen-consumer acceptance, public perception analysis and farmer adoption studies.
The project’s impact was that agrivoltaic systems moved upwards to TRL7-8, and attractive new business models were accessible for farmers. HyPErFarm thus supported a game-changing radical innovation and contributes to the building of a low fossil-carbon, climate-resilient future EU farming that can also supply local communities with power and hydrogen. HyPErFarm partners have the ability to adopt and further develop the new farming practices, to provide the new technologies required, and to adopt new APV-business models that will allow continued food production on land used for power production.
Agrivoltaic systems are demonstrated at 3 different European sites, namely in Belgium, Denmark and Germany. Different crops were cultivated underneath or in between the panels at the three pilot sites. Wheat was chosen as common crop over sites. In addition, each pilot site had an additional focus on other crops to compare agrivoltaic versus open field. Furthermore, for the German site, site-specific effects on yield formation under agrivoltaic systems were investigated by studying microplots, which led to a better understanding of the observed effects. Finally, biochar experiments in greenhouse and underneath the agrivoltaic setup were performed which showed diverse effects. Experimental data from these crop trials became available throughout the project and were used to validate the newly developed, publicly available and user-friendly agrivoltaic simulation tool. The final result of this web tool can be found on the project website (www.hyperfarm.eu).
The HyPErFarm project also develops and demonstrates new ways of utilizing and distributing the locally produced energy. One application is the implementation of H2 production and consumption on farm. The project demonstrated the viability of hydrogen panels within an agrivoltaics framework. Based on the output properties of the H2 panels, the design of H2 compressor module and its components was successfully updated and optimized to accommodate the H2 gas input, which operate at low pressures. Implementing hydrogen in agricultural operations presents however several challenges. Setting up a hydrogen refueling station, for instance, is a complex process involving permitting, risk assessments, and investment justification, which requires a certain scale to be economically viable.
Regarding the electricity production and storage, an analysis on the energy consumption profiles of relevant farm types was performed by a specialized newly developed modeling tool, in order to analyze how they can benefit from APV electricity generation. CO2 emissions were also taken into account. Usage of locally produced electricity is being demonstrated by developing of an electric farm robot. Electrification of a farm was demonstrated at TRANSfarm by implementing fossil-free technologies to fuel the farm operations.
The agrivoltaics technologies were assessed in order to develop business models for the HyPErFarm project. A stakeholder analysis was performed to identify and characterize a group of active entities in the field of farm decarbonization through agrivoltaics.
Furthermore, the social acceptance of agrivoltaic systems was examined, by analyzing the public perception, compatibility and acceptance. Stakeholders drivers and barriers were examined and personas (fictitious characters) were developed that respresent ciritical users or key stakeholders. A cross-country acceptance survey was performed, by collecting qualitative stakeholders interviews. In addition, a VR study was designed, to assess the public perception of agrivoltaic systems.
Finally, efforts focussed on the mapping of how the current energy markets and agricultural landscape work together and how a farmer can intelligently participate in it in terms of flexibility, energy sharing, energy communities, etc. An overview of current agrivoltaics legislation in different countries (EU and non-EU) was provided. In parallel, policy recommendations about future European agrivoltaic legislation were drafted.
As the experimental results and outcomes were exponentially increased, various outreach activities were performed which gained a lot of attention worldwide, which boosted the communication and dissemination campaign of HyPErFarm significantly. Finally, HyPErFarm is participating in EU clustering activities in the Area Zero Cluster, which joins 6 European projects.
The HyPErFarm project also develops and demonstrates new ways of utilizing and distributing the locally produced energy. One application is the implementation of H2 production and consumption on farm. The project demonstrated the viability of hydrogen panels within an agrivoltaics framework. Based on the output properties of the H2 panels, the design of H2 compressor module and its components was successfully updated and optimized to accommodate the H2 gas input, which operate at low pressures. Implementing hydrogen in agricultural operations presents however several challenges. Setting up a hydrogen refueling station, for instance, is a complex process involving permitting, risk assessments, and investment justification, which requires a certain scale to be economically viable.
Regarding the electricity production and storage, an analysis on the energy consumption profiles of relevant farm types was performed by a specialized newly developed modeling tool, in order to analyze how they can benefit from APV electricity generation. CO2 emissions were also taken into account. Usage of locally produced electricity is being demonstrated by developing of an electric farm robot. Electrification of a farm was demonstrated at TRANSfarm by implementing fossil-free technologies to fuel the farm operations.
The agrivoltaics technologies were assessed in order to develop business models for the HyPErFarm project. A stakeholder analysis was performed to identify and characterize a group of active entities in the field of farm decarbonization through agrivoltaics.
Furthermore, the social acceptance of agrivoltaic systems was examined, by analyzing the public perception, compatibility and acceptance. Stakeholders drivers and barriers were examined and personas (fictitious characters) were developed that respresent ciritical users or key stakeholders. A cross-country acceptance survey was performed, by collecting qualitative stakeholders interviews. In addition, a VR study was designed, to assess the public perception of agrivoltaic systems.
Finally, efforts focussed on the mapping of how the current energy markets and agricultural landscape work together and how a farmer can intelligently participate in it in terms of flexibility, energy sharing, energy communities, etc. An overview of current agrivoltaics legislation in different countries (EU and non-EU) was provided. In parallel, policy recommendations about future European agrivoltaic legislation were drafted.
As the experimental results and outcomes were exponentially increased, various outreach activities were performed which gained a lot of attention worldwide, which boosted the communication and dissemination campaign of HyPErFarm significantly. Finally, HyPErFarm is participating in EU clustering activities in the Area Zero Cluster, which joins 6 European projects.
Based on existing demonstrator projects that highlight the potential of APV to produce vast amounts of electricity, and the careful design that is required in order to ensure sustained crop yield, the project generalized the approach to multiple countries, multiple system layouts, and various crops. In addition, work has been done on sustainable farm concepts that include efficient buildings, novel tools, and the generation of hydrogen and carbon for storage. Thus we are spanning a large field of topics, from initial tests based on design concepts to the implementation of devices that have been validated on a limited scale. A number of the envisioned novel solutions were tested and demonstrated in the different locations. The different methods for energy use were tested for their efficacy on a comparable basis. This comprehensive approach, executed in this project for the first time, enables farmers to choose from a set of established options in order to find the best solution for their respective use case. The broad portfolio of options considered facilitates adaptation to market conditions and an active role of farmers in energy communities. In their entirety, they even allow farms to become CO2-negative.