Germany's Agri Energia has launched a pilot agricultural photovoltaic facility near Munich to protect hops plants from sun and hail while reducing evaporation. The photovoltaic facility is mounted on a steel mast that also provides support for the hops plants.
Germany's Agri Energie has launched an agricultural photovoltaic project in Hallertau, near Munich in Bavaria, Germany. The €1.5 million ($1.64 million) project combines solar power generation with hops growing. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems and the University of Applied Sciences Weinstein-Triesdorf are supporting Agri Energy in developing the facility. The facility will cover an area of 1.3 hectares and will produce enough electricity to power around 200 homes.
The company mounted the photovoltaic system on steel masts to provide protection for the hops plants from the sun and hail, as well as to reduce evaporation. In addition, the system provides support for the hops plants.
"This pilot project will provide us with many valuable insights that are closely linked to future photovoltaic projects in agriculture," said Bavarian Minister of the Economy Hubert Aiwanger, "There is also a great deal of local potential - after all, the Hallertau region grows 17,200 hectares of hops."
In July this year, the French company Q Energy has installed an agricultural photovoltaic installation for hops on one hectare of land in the French town of Luzon.