Organic farmer develops plans for agricultural photovoltaic system
Aesch/Gelfingen - Heinz Schmid, an organic farmer from Gelfingen in the canton of Lucerne, wants to build an agricultural photovoltaic system over his raspberry crop in Aesch. His pilot project is intended to show whether the harvest can be improved at the same time as generating energy. This remains the key condition for the approval of such systems.
The organic farmer Heinz Schmid wants to set up an agricultural photovoltaic system a few meters above his raspberry crop in Aesch. According to a report in the newspaper “Luzerner Zeitung” on October 18, the pilot project will produce around 500 megawatt hours of electricity across an area of 0.72 hectares. This corresponds to the annual consumption of 110 households. No objections had been received by the October 17 deadline.
With the system, the farmer and president of the Farmers' Association of the Lower Seetal wants to play his part in boosting the adoption of this technology. “The land should continue to be used primarily for agriculture in the future”, Schmid states. “Thanks to the photovoltaic system, however, we are increasing the use of space”, he adds. In addition, the berries do not need as much light and are protected from excessive sunlight and hail. Three systems are now being tested together with the Agroscope Conthey research institute: two with moveable solar collectors and one with a fixed solution.
The article lists three factors that have so far hampered the uptake of this technology in Switzerland. In June, the Federal Council - the Swiss federal government - decided that solar systems on building facades, retaining walls or in the Alps should be subject to a simplified approval process. However, for use on agricultural land, it is necessary to demonstrate that such systems lead to an increased yield. “It would be great if I could generate the same yield from my crop and produce electricity at the same time” Schmid explains, adding that he is of the view that the “current regulations are too strict”.
In addition, agricultural photovoltaic systems have not yet been tried and tested in Switzerland and, according to Schmid, the investment required per kilowatt hour of electricity is about twice as expensive as for roof-based systems. For this reason, Schmid is attempting to find out whether financial support is available.
