Enhancing land use: Integrating bifacial PV and olive trees in agrivoltaic systems

Agrivoltaic systems provide a promising solution for mitigating the competition for land between food and energy production. This study examines the performance of an agrivoltaic system in southern Spain, which integrates bifacial PV technology with three different olive cultivars. Different configurations of clearance height and PV modules tilt are analyzed. The findings indicate that PV modules tilted near the site's latitude achieve the highest energy yield, while vertically-oriented modules lead to the greatest olive yield. The variation in tilt angle has a more significant impact on PV yield, whereas the height of the PV modules primarily affects olive tree yield. To quantify the combined land productivity of energy and crop outputs, the land equivalent ratio (LER) is employed. The results demonstrated a maximum LER of 171% when modules are tilted at 20°, thereby enhancing overall land productivity. Moreover, the study reveals that olive trees display a moderate sensitivity to shading. These findings underscore the importance of optimizing the configuration of PV systems for dual land use in agrivoltaic while taking agricultural productivity into account.