It's not a very long article, so they don't get too into detail. This would use bifacial solar panels. On a purely optics standpoint, you'd think they are much worse than traditional (i.e., facing south at the right angle) panels, but they gain efficiency by staying cooler, and they generate more power when traditional solar isn't, which helps smooth out the power generation curve. They also self clean and don't have as much hail risk.
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2024
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The shade and the wind hindrance also helps with crop yield, I've been told by a farmer that is part of an experiment using these. The vertical panels help with moist retention, which is what is beneficial.
Interesting. How well does this integrate with existing harvesting machinery?
Don't want machines damaging the panels right?
Machinery comes is varying width. I would guess a farmer needs to decide at some point - is the priority using a 10-meter wide tool, or is it OK to settle with a 6-meter tool, or even a smaller one.
Basing on that, they'll decide what the clearance between rows of panels should be. From an energy installation viewpoint, the shadow of one row should not cover another row during normal operating conditions. Assuming sun at 30 degrees elevation ("September on latitude 60"), the shadow of a fence that's 1.2 meters tall will be about 1.75 * 1.2 = 2.1 m long. So from an energy generation viewpoint, one can pack things more densely than makes sense for farming.
Cool😊 the panels I've seen has been about 2m height, but that doesn't change anything. The picture in the article looks almost miniaturised.