Research Projects - ISE

The research project SynAgri-PV pursues the overarching goal of describing and evaluating central technical, legal, economic and social framework conditions and prerequisites for the establishment of agrivoltaics on the German market and developing proposals for a broad establishment of agrivoltaics.

As part of the research project, the Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee, Fraunhofer ISE and eleven other project partners are building and testing five agrivoltaic-pilot-facilities in Baden-Württemberg. These have a total output of over 1,700 kWp and have been installed at various locations. The project comprises two project phases. The aim is to identify the potential and difficulties of agrivoltaics and to promote the development of the technology throughout the state.

The project »VAckerPower«, funded by the BMWK, enables a comprehensive examination of the vertical agrivoltaics approach in arable farming. In »VAckerBio«, the focus is on the effects of an agrivoltaic system on arable land use and biodiversity. In these respects, the project results should serve as orientation in the ecological and agricultural evaluation of agrivoltaic systems in arable farming.

Moor-PV refers to the simultaneous use of rewetted moorland for climate protection and PV power generation. Since the beginning of 2023, the German government has been promoting the construction of solar installations on moorland in Germany that was previously drained for agriculture as part of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), provided that it is permanently rewetted.

HyPErFarm is a multidisciplinary research project with the aim of developing viable business models for fossil free agriculture. An international team of twelve partners is researching the power generation, power storage and social acceptance of three plants in Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

Extreme weather events such as hail and heavy rain pose new challenges for commercial fruit growing. The project »APV Obstbau« investigates to what extent agrivoltaics can take over a protective function in apple production, which PV construction makes sense with this crop, and to what extent the agrivoltaic system influences the crop yield.

The project explores sustainable electricity production through integrated food, energy, and water systems in Mali and Gambia. Accordingly, a triple land use strategy for rural areas of West Africa is being investigated and implemented, and the dual use of agrivoltaics is complemented by water management considerations.

The project tests the concept of agrivoltaics in cooperation with small farmers in Namibia across different agro-ecological zones. The project addresses the challenges of food security, unemployment, electrification, and dependency on expensive electricity imports and fruits and vegetables from neighboring countries.

WATERMED 4.0 explores the efficient use of water resources to improve the quality and safety of Mediterranean agriculture in semi-arid areas. The use of smart technologies is intended to monitor the entire water cycle. Additionally, it will be investigated to what extent the shading of the PV modules reduces the irrigation needs of the crops growing underneath.

In a pilot project in cooperation with Fraunhofer Chile, three agrivoltaic systems with a capacity of 13 kilowatts each were tested in the communities of El Monte, Curacaví, and Lampa.

From 2016 to 2021, the APV-RESOLA innovation group researched agrivoltaics in arable farming at a pilot plant in Germany, near Lake Constance.

This project will test organic photovoltaics in agrivoltaic-systems.