Developing a crop responsive AgriVoltaics system to address strategies that would favor food and energy security, resilient value chains, and sustainable agriculture.
Trisolar develops radical innovative technology to generate large amounts of renewable electricity in greenhouses in all seasons of the year to enable the constant production of food without energy limitations. This innovative technology will make agrivoltaics a major contributor to the world ́s clean energy portfolio. Our technology is highly competitive compared to other solutions since it fully addresses the desired destination impact of clean affordable energy with a projected installed cost for customer of €600 per kilowatt compared to €880 for ground based Photovoltaic fields. TriSolar systems are further cost effective in areas with less sunshine, which currently are outside areas for which agrivoltaics could be considered.
The core technology is a responsive tracking system mounted in the greenhouse driven by a PLC controller that changes the angle of the tracking system according to the plants’ needs. We will test a system using CO2 enrichment as a means to increase electricity production in low light conditions by increasing the angle of incidence of the bifacial panels in the tracking system. The tracking system is hung with a few screws from the supports of the greenhouse, removing the need for wind-proof supports, reducing the price per installed kilowatt. Thus, this technology allows not only for the dual use of land, but also for the dual use of infrastructure.