When is Agrivoltaism Environmentally Beneficial? A Consequential LCA and Scenario Discovery Approach
Résumé
At the crossroads of climate change and land-competition, agrivoltaic systems (AVS) propose a land-sharing synergy between photovoltaic (PV) electricity and crop production or animal husbandry. By partially covering crops with PV panels, AVS can enhance food production by maintaining favorable micro-climatic conditions and can constitute a promising adaptation to climate change. However, the AVS electric and crop production performances vary extensively across crop types, climates, panel orientations etc. While the few existing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies evaluating AVS' environmental performance, cover a minor part of this diversity of configurations, a planned deployment policy for AVS requires extensive knowledge on the configurations that may or may not environmentally outperform conventional alternatives, i.e., conventional PV electric and crop productions. To identify these configurations, we built a parameterized consequential LCA model that simulates an AVS either driven by electricity demand or by crop demand. We then applied a scenario discovery algorithm over stochastic AVS configurations to identify groups of AVS configurations that perform better or worse than their conventional counterparts. By parameterizing the technological and agronomical contexts, the interactions between PV and crop productions and the electricity and land markets, we provide insights regarding how AVS should be designed, promoted or discouraged.
| Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
|---|---|
| Licence |