Toward sustainable practices in photovoltaic and agricultural greenhouse systems: An ecosystem services framework

Abstract

Policies promoting agrivoltaics face the challenge of balancing between mitigating climate change and farmland preservation. This study applies an ecosystem-services (ESS) approach to evaluate the introduction of transparent solar panels (TSP) as photovoltaic and agricultural greenhouse systems (PVGs) with low impact on agricultural activities. Using a partial equilibrium model of Israel's vegetative agriculture, we simulate the introduction of TSP on farmers' optimal land allocation between open-field and covered crops and its sustainability. The model accounts for food and energy production as provisioning vegetative-agriculture ESS (VAESS), and for greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and open-field landscape as non-provisioning VAESS. Our findings suggest that TSP represents an economically viable and sustainable PVG technology. The adoption of TSP, alongside policies that internalize the value of non-provisioning ESS, is projected to convert 1.3 % of Israel's cultivable land from open fields to covered crops, contributing approximately 7 % to the nation's electricity supply. The estimated annual increase in VAESS per hectare is valued at $864, comprising $812 from electricity generation, $259 from GHG emission reductions, $277 in consumer surplus from agricultural products, offset by a $441 reduction in agricultural output, and a $43 decrease in landscape value. Our analysis demonstrates how an ecosystem services framework can guide policy decisions toward optimal land-use allocation in agrivoltaic systems.