Effect of Agri-Photovoltaic System on Growth and Productivity of Soybean

The shade effect by panels, temperature and other alterations occur under photovoltaic system. Further height, tilt angle of solar panels, distance between two panels or spacing are other factors which influence the crop growth, development and ultimately yield levels of crops. The main objective of his study is to evaluate the growth and yield of soybean under photovoltaic conditions.

The field experiment was conducted at research farm of Agriphotovoltaics tq. Manwat site and district Parbhani, under collaborative research project between GIZ, Germany and Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani (MS) during kharif season of 2023 and 2024. The experiment site includes different agrivoltaics setup with different APV designs viz. elevated structure 3.75 m and 1.75 m panels for below and interspaces cultivation, with fixed tilt of 11°.

The experimental results revealed that soybean crop sown in between interspaces of 1.75 m panels as well as interspaces between panels having 3.75 m panel recorded seed yield comparable with each other and open space cultivation however 25.83% and 20% lower seed yield recorded with soybean sown below the panels of height 3.75 m, while 42.3% and 40% lower seed yield was recorded with soybean sown below the panels of height 1.75 m. The canopy, air and soil temperature differences were wider in below panel and between interspaces cultivation conditions in 1.75 m panel overhead as compared to 3.75 m panel overhead.