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The project, funded by the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness of the Regional Government of Ñuble, uses semi-transparent solar panels for the production of cherries and strawberries.
The Faculty of Engineering and Business at the Adventist University of Chile (UnACh), in the Chilean region of Ñuble, is developing an agrovoltaic system for the production of cherries and strawberries.
A communication explains that this is a project financed by the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness of the Regional Government of Ñuble that uses semi-transparent glass panels.
According to Jorge Retamal, a fruit researcher at the Quilamapu Agricultural Research Institute (INIA), this system allows for “a reduction in microplastic contamination of fruits,” since the panels perform this function.
In turn, the energy generated from photovoltaics could mean a 100% saving in the energy costs of the orchard, as well as its protection, "since the height at which the panels are located (4.5 meters) - it is assured - protects them from meteorological events, such as frost, hail, sunstroke, torrential rain, considerably reducing the loss of fruit."
For his part, the project director, Victor Pizarro, said that “this project seeks to create a synergy between agricultural systems and photovoltaic systems. “The crop benefits because we avoid sunburn and excess radiation; there is also an increase in the efficiency of water use. On the other hand, the panels also benefit, because having a crop underneath creates a cooler environment and that benefits the panels,” he added. |
