Agrivoltaics: Integrating Profitable Agricultural Production and Renewable Energy Generation

Project summary

Objective

Exploring how solar panels can improve farm conditions, identifying the best setups for crops and pastures and modelling how to boost food and energy production.

Timeline

2025 - 2028

Investment

The CRC will invest about $1.3 million over three and a half years.

Program lead

Marit Kragt

Overview

This project will evaluate the impacts of solar panels on microclimatic conditions in Australian farming systems, identify optimal agrivoltaic configurations for horticulture, viticulture, and pastures, and perform techno-economic-environmental modelling to co-optimise food production, energy generation, and emissions reduction. It will also conduct benefit-cost analyses across Australian regions and develop education and outreach materials to support adoption

Program
This project is being completed as part of Program 4: Delivering Value from Net Zero

Details

Importance: Agrivoltaics offers a transformative solution to decarbonise agriculture by powering electric machinery, irrigation, and cool storage with renewable energy. The project addresses concerns about land competition, by demonstrating the feasibility of co-locating solar energy and food production in Australian conditions.

Impact: By integrating renewable energy into productive agricultural systems, the project will help reduce on-farm emissions, enhance food and energy security for rural communities, and support the transition to net zero farming.

Project team: This project brings together industry expertise in photovoltaics, and expertise in climatology, plant physiology, agronomy, economics, engineering, and outreach. The project is led by Dr. Caitlin Moore from The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Neil Canby from Sunrise Energy Group. They are supported by a multidisciplinary team including researchers from the University of Melbourne and Australian National University, as well as contributors from Agriculture Victoria, Curtin University, the Western Australia Agriculture Research Collaboration, and the Grower Group Alliance (GGA).

Pathways to Adoption: Agrivoltaics: Integrating Profitable Agricultural Production and Renewable Energy Generation is designed to move agrivoltaics from concept to practice, by embedding research directly into commercial farming systems across Australia.

Field trials at a solar farm and farms in WA and VIC will test how crops and pastures perform under solar panels, generating real-world data. This project partners with grower groups and Drought Hubs to ensure innovations are co-designed with farmers and tested in the conditions they know. These sites will showcase how agrivoltaics can reduce emissions, generate energy, and maintain productivity, all on the same land. Through targeted extension materials, field walks, and collaboration with groups like Farmers for Climate Action and AgZero2030, the project will help producers see not just what’s possible, but what’s practical.

Research Timeline: This is a 3.5-year project allowing time for data collection, modelling, trials, and outreach activities across multiple sites and regions.

PhDs: Three PhD students will be trained throughout the project. One will focus on microclimatic and techno-environmental modelling, another on crop ecophysiology and agronomy, and the third on economic evaluation.