Bridging agriculture and renewable energy
Agriculture is a key sector in Thailand, however, it contributes to a significant number of environmental issues, particularly greenhouse gas emissions. As the world's population grows, the need for both food and clean energy increases.
Thus, the challenges of sustainable agriculture revolve around balancing food production with environmental conservation.
The global push for net-zero emissions across industries is driven by the urgency of climate change and the increasing demand for sustainable solutions. Among the emerging innovations, agrivoltaics is one of the rising sustainable farming solutions, involving the simultaneous use of land for both solar power generation and agriculture.
At the same time, agrivoltaics is relieving the concerns about land consumption as solar farms require significant land use.
This dual-use system maximizes land efficiency and provides clean energy while supporting crop growth and reducing water evaporation. As governments and industries work to meet ambitious net-zero goals, agrivoltaics offers a promising way to integrate renewable energy with food production, exemplifying how innovation can tackle environmental challenges.
Nevertheless, agrivoltaics is not confined to specific locations. It can be implemented across diverse types of farms, including crop, livestock, aquaculture, and herb farms. Trina Solar, a global leader in smart PV and energy storage solutions, is at the forefront of many successful agrivoltaics projects.
New Zealand: Kohirā solar farm
Credit: Lodestone Energy
Developed by Lodestone Energy, the Kohirā Solar Farm is New Zealand’s first utility-scale solar farm and one of the largest, marking a major stride toward New Zealand's renewable energy targets. The project utilizes 61,000 Trina solar ultra-high-power bifacial modules mounted on Trina Tracker Vanguard 2P trackers. The ample space between panel rows and a 2-meter tracker height facilitates agrivoltaic farming, allowing solar energy generation while northland sheep graze beneath the panels. The modules offer shade and facilitate grass growth, which serves as feed for the sheep. The solar farm is projected to generate approximately 55GWh annually, providing power to over 7,770 households. This PV+ model is crucial in markets like New Zealand with large agricultural industries coupled with increasingly scarce land resources.
Japan: Fukuchiyama project
The agrivoltaics project in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, utilizes 3,392 of Trinasolar's ultra-high power Vertex N 720W series modules, incorporating the latest 210mm wafer technology and high-efficiency n-type TOPCon cells. With its low light saturation point, the Japanese yam thrives beneath the shade of the solar module, allowing it to reduce soil moisture evaporation and ensure the crops have sufficient water for growth. The modules are mounted at a minimum height of approximately 2 metres, with rows spaced to allow the use of agricultural machinery like tractors and rotary tillers. The careful design of this project ensures that agricultural operations can continue seamlessly beneath the modules, fostering sustainable land use and contributing to the local economy.
China: Fishery Photovoltaic Project
This 70MW fishery project is located in Nandagang Industry Park in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, an area characterized by saline-alkali soils and mudflats. The project is installed over fish ponds, which will continue to be used for fish and shrimp breeding after the system is connected to the grid. Modules floating on the water can shade the fish pond, reduce water temperature, cut evaporation and effectively block strong sunlight, which significantly reduces the incidence of fish dying as a result of elevated water temperatures. The project, covering 130 hectares, utilizes Trinasolar’s Vertex 600W+ ultra-high-power modules and is expected to generate power for 1,292 hours a year for 25 years, providing about 128,000MWh green power annually and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 107,000 tons.
China: Xishuangbanna Tea Garden
Xishuangbanna Tea Garden in Yunnan is the first among many agriculture-photovoltaic power generation projects in China. It deploys Trinasolar’s transparent dual glass modules erected on the tea trees, which does not affect the growth of these trees but enables the efficient stereoscopic use of the space, thus significantly improving the utilization of land and solar energy and fostering the symbiosis between agriculture and solar PV.
Agrivoltaics represents a groundbreaking approach to addressing the world’s pressing challenges — renewable energy, food security, and land consumption. As we look toward the future, agrivoltaics holds the potential to reshape farming and energy landscapes, driving us closer to a more sustainable and resilient planet. These types of integration systems can help boost electricity production, raise food yields, reduce water consumption, maximize land use, and safeguard biodiversity.
Solar solutions including modules, trackers and energy storage solutions present a transformative solution to many challenges facing agriculture and farming today. This innovative approach offers a path forward for achieving food security, conserving the environment, and transitioning to a more sustainable agricultural model. Solar energy is a powerful ally in building a resilient future for farming. With the advanced solar technology, agrivoltaics will likely drive further adoption, as they offer more flexibility to suit different crops and climates.
Trina Solar is dedicated to advancing this innovation and helping farmers and communities transition toward a more sustainable and prosperous future. Trinasolar’s successful agrivoltaic projects provide a valuable blueprint for Thai farmers and the broader agricultural industry to integrate innovation into their farming practices. It’s paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable agricultural future in Thailand.
