Cost–Benefit Analysis of Kaposvár Solar Photovoltaic Park Considering Agrivoltaic Systems

Journal Article: Cost–Benefit Analysis of Kaposvár Solar Photovoltaic Park Considering Agrivoltaic Systems

Abstract

For the fast-growing demand for electricity, food, and resources in the world’s economy, the optimization of land use considering environmental, social, and economic effects towards systems that integrate diverse land uses while increasing the total yield of production is desirable. Agrivoltaic systems provide many advantages, such as great development potential, and being clean and recyclable. Countries are paying increasing attention to the research and development of agrivoltaic technology, constantly improving related laws and regulations, and improving the policy environment. There is a huge gap between the energy-saving potential of agrivoltaics with electricity generation and agricultural production and the actual energy utilization. In the actual utilization process, there is a waste of resources, as the conversion of sunlight into electricity by solar panels cannot be fully utilized in rural areas. How efficient is the use of resources in real life? In the absence of government financial support, do agrivoltaic systems provide economic benefits? What are their environmental benefits? These problems affect the use, development, and promotion of agrivoltaic systems in rural areas. This paper takes “agrivoltaic” as an example using a structured sensitivity analysis, evaluates the actual efficiency of the utilization of electricity production, quantitatively analyzes the economic and environmental benefits of agrivoltaic systems for farmers, and presents suggestions for their development. Figure 1 gives a schematic comparison of photovoltaic (PV) and agrivoltaic (APV) systems. Compared to other studies, the novelty of this article is reflected in two aspects: (1) the use of a significant body of literature focused on the existing literature. This paper synthesizes the literature on agrivoltaics not only from international researchers, but also from less published Hungarian researchers. The basis of 48 previous research works clearly proposes that the concept of agrivoltaics should be understood from the essence, connotation, development mode, and other aspects. (2) This paper performs an economic analysis to provide good advice for investing into agrivoltaic technology and to demonstrate the effects on the competitiveness of APV compared to PV and agriculture. This paper shows that without government subsidies or fundamental changes in the economic and technological context, the future development of agrivoltaics is uncertain in the short run.

Contains a model

Topics

Economics

Techno-economic analyses
Cost benchmarks for O&M/CAPEX

PV Technologies

Impact on energy generation

Agrivoltaic Activity: Crop Production

Authors: A. Chalgynbayeva, T. Mizik and A. Bai

Published Journal

MDPI: Clean Technologies, 10/2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol4040064
Online: Internet link for Cost–Benefit Analysis of Kaposvár Solar Photovoltaic Park Considering Agrivoltaic Systems

Citation

A. Chalgynbayeva, T. Mizik, A. Bai. 10/2022. Cost–Benefit Analysis of Kaposvár Solar Photovoltaic Park Considering Agrivoltaic Systems. MDPI: Clean Technologies. 4(4):1-17.