During the first 18 months of the project, the key scientific and technical accomplishments have been:
1. Installation and setup of responsive tracking systems in greenhouses across the 5 test sites in Germany, Austria, Italy and Israel (the 6th site in Greece completed shortly after the period).
2. Design and development of a new range of solar panels with various sizes and light transmission levels, tailored to the specific needs of different greenhouse structures and diverse types of agricultural crops.
3. Customization of the mechanical components of the solar system to fit the various greenhouse structures in terms of size, strength and safety, ensuring durability and efficiency under the varying conditions of each structure.
4. Initial development of CO2 enrichment protocols for the test locations, including investigating recommended CO2 levels and enrichment schedules.
5. Initial operation and testing of the responsive tracking system and software that allows users to adjust to environmental conditions in their greenhouses and meet their specific requirements.
6. Controlled experiments in phytotrons growing plants with low light at various levels and CO2 concentrations to calibrate the responsive tracking system.
7. Initial collection of baseline data on:
o PV electrical performance
o Greenhouse microclimate (temperature, humidity, radiation levels, etc.)
o CO2 levels
o Crop performance
8. Development of technical protocols for PV electrical performance testing, greenhouse microclimate monitoring, crop performance assessment, and CO2 level measurement across the sites.
9. Initial characterization of the custom bifacial PV modules, including IV curve measurements, temperature coefficients, bifaciality coefficients, and angle of incidence response.
10. Development of preliminary energy models for the greenhouse system, integrating microclimate, energy production/consumption, and crop growth.
11. First round of non-standard interviews and discussion groups with farmers in partner countries to assess initial perceptions of agrivoltaic technologies.
12. Establishment of data collection and management infrastructure to enable efficient sharing of experimental results across all testing sites and partners.
