Agrivoltaic systems that locate crop production and photovoltaic energy generation on the same land have the potential to aid the transition to renewable energy by reducing the competition between food, habitat, and energy needs for land while reducing irrigation requirements. Experimental efforts to date have not adequately developed an understanding of the interaction among local climate, array design and crop selection sufficient to manage trade-offs in system design. This study simulates the energy production, crop productivity and water consumption impacts of agrivoltaic array design choices in arid and semi-arid environments in the Southwestern region of the United States. Using the Penman–Monteith evapotranspiration model, we predict agrivoltaics can reduce crop water consumption by 30%–40% of the array coverage level, depending on local climate. A crop model simulating productivity based on both light level and temperature identifies afternoon shading provided by agrivoltaic arrays as potentially beneficial for shade tolerant plants in hot, dry settings. At the locations considered, several designs and crop combinations exceed land equivalence ratio values of 2, indicating a doubling of the output per acre for the land resource. These results highlight key design axes for agrivoltaic systems and point to a decision support tool for their development.

中文翻译：

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用于管理能源生产、作物生产力和水消耗之间权衡的农业光伏系统设计工具

将作物生产和光伏发电集中在同一块土地上的农业光伏系统有可能通过减少粮食、栖息地和土地能源需求之间的竞争，同时减少灌溉需求，帮助向可再生能源过渡。迄今为止的实验工作尚未充分了解当地气候、阵列设计和作物选择之间的相互作用，足以管理系统设计中的权衡。本研究模拟了美国西南部干旱和半干旱环境中农业光伏阵列设计选择对能源生产、作物生产力和水消耗的影响。使用 Penman-Monteith 蒸散量模型，我们预测农业光伏发电可以将阵列覆盖水平的农作物耗水量减少 30%–40%，具体取决于当地气候。基于光照水平和温度模拟生产力的作物模型发现，农业光伏阵列提供的午后遮荫对于炎热、干燥环境中的耐荫植物可能有益。在所考虑的地点，一些设计和作物组合超过了土地当量比值 2，这表明土地资源每英亩的产量翻了一番。这些结果突出了农业光伏系统的关键设计轴，并为其开发提供了决策支持工具。