Which crops can be grown under PV panels?

Tomato, lettuce, pepper, cucumbers and strawberries are the most studied crops under PV panels (Fig. 5). The recent literatures for applications of selective shading systems on the aforementioned crops and others plants are reviewed in the following sections.

What plants grow under photovoltaic panels?

Kavga A, Trypanagnostopoulos G, Zervoudakis G, Tripanagnostopoulos Y (2018) Growth and physiological characteristics of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.) plants cultivated under photovoltaic panels.

Do solar panels affect tomato morphology and fruit quality?

The effect of 9.8% shading rate, by applying PV, on the morphology and fruit quality of tomato during two growing period (2010–11 and 2011–12) in south-eastern Spain has been studied recently by Ángel Jesús et al. The test results indicated that solar panels caused small reduction in PAR.

Can agrophotovoltaic systems help grow potatoes?

Based on the potato yield that has been cultivated in 2018 in Germany, the land use efficiency rose to 186 percent per hectare with the Agrophotovoltaic system (Fig. 1 b) (Trommsdorff et al. 2021). However, in these innovative systems, PV panels partially shelter the crop growing below (Marrou et al. 2013b).

Do solar panels affect crop yields & fruit quality?

The solar radiation received by the plants may decrease crop yields and reduce fruit sizes (Marrou et al. 2013a). Consequently, the impact that solar panels could have on crop yield and fruit quality has attracted great attention of researchers. Tomato, lettuce, pepper, cucumbers and strawberries are the most studied crops under PV panels (Fig. 5).

Why are solar panels better than open field plants?

The reduction in direct sunlight exposure beneath the PV panels led to cooler air temperature during the day and warmer temperatures at night, which allowed the plant under the solar arrays to retain more moisture than the control crops that grew in open field planting area.