The French vitality firm says that the 100 kW agrivoltaic facility linked to cattle farming within the Puy-de-Dôme area of France doesn’t change the performance of the meadow and animal conduct.
From pv journal in France
Engie Green, a unit of the French vitality big Engie, has been working a vertical agrivoltaic demonstrator for the previous two years on the web site of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRAE) in Laqueuille, division of Puy-de -Dôme, in Auvergne- The Rhône-Alpes area is a commune in France.
The selection of this photovoltaic know-how was made due to its manufacturing profile, the place the solar energy plant produces a very long time from 5 am to eight pm because of the vertical placement of the panels.
The first outcomes present that in 2024, the vitality produced by the 100 kW pilot, known as Camélia, exceeds the manufacturing of a ground-based plant of the identical energy by 30%.
Engie added that Engie additionally disclosed agronomic knowledge exhibiting that the plant has entered the second yr of agronomic monitoring and the primary yr of photo voltaic vitality manufacturing.
Initial observations present that the presence of photo voltaic panels adjustments the microclimate of the meadow. Over the course of a number of months, the researchers measured half the wind velocity with out vital adjustments in wind path. Over the course of a day, photo voltaic installations quickly change the sunshine and thermal situations on either side of the panels. “However, since all of the microclimatic knowledge has not been analyzed, we should await another cycle to make related conclusions,” defined the corporate.
Regarding the manufacturing of plant biomass, if it’s not modified by the space of the panels or the east-west orientation, the pasture of 18-meter inter-row is extra productive than the 12-meter inter-row. Several explanations got by INRAE: the intrinsic spatial variability of the plot, the presence of somewhat grass, and possibly somewhat gentle at 18 meters than at 12 meters.
Finally, all of the animals current within the Camélia plot are geared up with sensors to measure actions comparable to ingestion, rumination, relaxation, and standing, in addition to their place within the shade or gentle and their spatial place by GPS. During the primary grazing cycle in May, in moist and funky situations, the scientists noticed that the animals spent about 1/3 of their time within the inter-row of the panels and a couple of/3 of their time across the panels.
In hotter and fewer dry situations, throughout the second grazing cycle in June-July, the animals spent much less time within the shade of the bushes positioned within the plot. In addition, the presence of the panels doesn’t appear to vary their exercise as a result of the exercise profiles are just like these within the Camélia plot and one other plot used throughout inter-grazing. Again, these preliminary observations made in cattle needs to be additional analyzed with a extra full knowledge set in different grazing cycles studied.
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