Agrivoltaics (APV) combines agricultural and solar energy utilisation on the same area. To this end, the project carried out an initial ecological assessment of agrivoltaic systems in comparison to conventional PV-PV systems. Assessments of the second new type of PV, sometimes referred to as biodiversity or biotope PV, show whether and to what extent solar parks can provide a habitat for endangered species over time if the areas are extensively maintained. The aim of the project was to analyse the relevance of these two plant concepts for nature conservation and to sharpen the position of nature conservation in this field.
From a nature conservation perspective, both agrivoltaic PV systems and more nature-friendly conventional PV systems on agricultural land have the potential to help minimise the conflicting goals of promoting biodiversity and protecting the climate. Both technologies contain the approach of improving land efficiency by combining multiple functions, albeit possibly at the cost of requiring more land overall for electricity generation, i.e. the landscape will have to be ‘furnished’ accordingly with technical facilities. The use of Agri-PV as well as the optimisation of the nature conservation compatibility of the plants will require an increase in the average area required for plant technology from 1.25 hectares per megawatt to two to three times as much in individual cases. In the further expansion of generation capacities, it will be important to continue to take the respective local and regional framework conditions into account with a sense of proportion, i.e. to realise different plant concepts in connection with acceptance issues.
Download
Sonja Rosenthal, Joachim Pertagnol, Stefanie Beithan, Dieter Günnewig, Wolfgang Peters und Bernhard Wern. Photovoltaik-Freiflächenanlagen Inanspruchnahme landwirtschaftlicher Flächen, Agri-PV und Potenziale für eine naturverträglichere Gestaltung. BfN-Schriften 705 (2024)