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Created by a Dutch group of companies and research institutions, the mobile solar system can also be combined with an electrolyser for hydrogen generation. Currently, they are testing two prototypes.
A Dutch consortium has developed a mobile agrivoltaic system that they say improves soil quality and the biodiversity of agricultural fields.
The first prototype, called H2arvester, has been installed in sugar beet fields in Oude-Tonge (South Holland) and was inaugurated last week by the Minister of Agriculture of the Netherlands, Henk Staghouwer.
“The solar car concept was developed four years ago by my company and two other partners,” Marcel Vroom, head of design and business development at design service provider Npk design , told pv magazine . The other two companies are Lorèl Consultancy and LTO Noord. “At the moment, two pilots, the one in Oude-Tonge and the one in Lelystad, are being tested at the Wageningen University research farm. Both systems will work for one year to check the effect on yield and land, to show that there will be no loss of agricultural production.”
Local farmer Jacob Jan Dogterom invested €166,000 in the system located in Oude-Tonge, which consists of four solar cars housing a total of 168 solar panels and an irrigation system that can also supply water to the surrounding area. “It is a pilot project, the investment is far from complete. We will continue to build it, and if we can develop it on a large scale, it will become cheaper," the consortium said.
InnovationQuarter, the regional economic development agency for the province of South Holland, has subsidized approximately half of the project costs.
Each cart measures 12x6m and is capable of moving slowly, at a rate of 10 meters per hour, and, during harvest, can move to one side. According to its promoter, the system should cover up to 10% of an agricultural field, which would thus not lose its agricultural purpose. "These are mobile arrays of solar panels, mounted on lightweight structures and supported on wheels, that move in predefined directions," Vroom further explained.
The system could also be combined with an electrolyser to produce hydrogen, which could be used as an environmentally friendly fuel for agricultural applications. Waste heat from hydrogen generation could also be used to dry crops such as oats, grass and alfalfa. "The solution of converting the generated kWh directly into hydrogen not only provides an autonomous production plant, but it is also a solution to the need to balance the production and use of the generated energy without worrying about the reinforcements of the electrical network" said Robert Jacobs, energy specialist at Lorèl Consultancy.
The project is part of the H2GO Program, which is an innovation program that supports the combination of green electricity and hydrogen. The project partners are Kitepower, Npk design, Lorèl Consultancy, Rho, Accenda and TU Delft, among others. According to its creators, H2arvester is a circular energy model for a local and regional economy |
