By Queen Namene<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What if a single piece of land could be used for solar energy generation and agricultural production without compromising either? The question lies at the heart of agriphotovoltaics (Agri-PV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers from the University of Namibia (UNAM) showcased findings from Namibia\u2019s first large-scale Agri-PV initiative at the Southern African Sustainable Energy Conference (SASEC) 2026, held from 23\u201326 June 2026 at the Kruger National Park, South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recognised as Southern Africa\u2019s premier forum for renewable and sustainable energy, SASEC serves to bring together leading researchers, industry experts and policymakers from all across the globe to discuss the latest developments shaping the energy sector in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KEY FINDINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Petja Dobreva, Senior Lecturer in the Physics subsection under the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Materials Science (DPCM), and Project Lead of the Agri-PV initiative, alongside her PhD student, Paulus Weyulu, presented findings from the Agri-PV system located at the UNAM Ogongo Campus in the northern part of Namibia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UNAM staff member in the DPCM, Poland Michael, also presented his findings from his doctoral research in photovoltaics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agri-PV combines electricity generation and agriculture on the same piece of land. Unlike conventional ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) systems, where PV modules are installed over bare ground and optimally oriented solely for electricity production, Agri-PV systems are designed to allow sufficient sunlight to reach crops growing beneath them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Agri-PV site, the fixed-tilt PV modules are arranged in east-west orientation to provide alternating periods of sunlight and shade, creating a more conducive environment for crop growth while simultaneously generating renewable electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two Agri-PV configurations were investigated at the site: the Checkerboard configuration (where solar modules alternate with open spaces across the installation) and the Normal Opaque configuration (where modules are installed more densely).<\/p>\n\n\n\n CONFIGURATIONS PERFORMANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Weyulu\u2019s presentation titled: \u201cPerformance Assessment of Normal Opaque and Checkerboard Agrivoltaics Sub-Systems in Northern Namibia\u201d<\/em>, examined how these configurations perform compared to a conventional ground-mounted PV system occupying the same land area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study found that the Normal Opaque system has an installed capacity equivalent to 48% of a conventional PV installation, while the Checkerboard configuration has 24% of the conventional capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The measured specific energy yield reached 1527 kWh\/kWp\/year for the Normal Opaque system and 1338 kWh\/kWp\/year for the Checkerboard configuration, compared to a modelled 2013 kWh\/kWp\/year for the conventional PV system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the Agri-PV systems produced lower electricity yields because of their sub-optimal orientation, the results remain encouraging. The Normal Opaque configuration achieved per installed watt approximately 76% of the production of a conventional system, while the Checkerboard configuration reached about 67% .<\/p>\n\n\n\n Importantly, electricity generation alone should not be used to evaluate agrivoltaic systems. Their true value lies in delivering two products, renewable electricity and agricultural production, from the same piece of land. Future studies measuring crop productivity will enable calculation of the Land Equivalent Ratio (LER), a key indicator used to assess land productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CROP INFLUENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Dobreva\u2019s presentation titled: \u201cPhotovoltaic Module Temperature in an Agrivoltaic System: An Experimental and Model-Based Case Study from Namibia\u201d<\/em>, investigated how crops influence the operating temperature of solar PV modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solar PV modules lose efficiency as they become hotter. Under Namibia\u2019s field conditions, module temperatures frequently exceed 60\u00b0C, which corresponds to reduction in module power of up to 15%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study examined whether growing potato crops beneath the PV modules could naturally cool the modules by altering the surrounding microclimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using high-resolution thermistor sensors installed on the back of the PV modules and recording temperatures every five minutes, the research combined extensive field measurements with advanced modelling to assess and compare PV module temperature with and without crops underneath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CONSISTENT COOLING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The results demonstrated a consistent cooling effect. PV modules above potato crops operated between 0.6-2.8\u00b0C cooler than they would have without cultivation of crops beneath them. While modest, this temperature reduction increased PV module efficiency by approximately 1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even this relatively small improvement has meaningful implications. For the relatively small Agri-PV installation at Ogongo, the additional electricity generated through the improved efficiency is sufficient to meet the annual energy needs of more than two households. At utility-scale installations, even 1% improvement in module efficiency translates into hundreds of MWh of additional electricity generation each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The findings presented at SASEC 2026 demonstrate the growing potential of agrivoltaics as an innovative approach to addressing the interconnected challenges of food production, renewable energy generation and efficient land use. As Namibia continues expanding its renewable energy capacity, locally generated scientific evidence such as that produced at the Ogongo Agri-PV site will play an important role in informing future energy and agricultural development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Agri-PV Project located at the Ogongo Campus is funded by Deutsche Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Namibia and implemented by the UNAM, Inceptus Holdings, in technical collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Germany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Queen Namene What if a single piece of land could be used for solar energy generation and agricultural production without compromising either? The question lies at the heart of agriphotovoltaics (Agri-PV). Researchers from the University of Namibia (UNAM) showcased findings from Namibia\u2019s first large-scale Agri-PV initiative at the Southern African Sustainable Energy Conference (SASEC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[31,33],"class_list":["post-1108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy-news","tag-energy-news","tag-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1110,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions\/1110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etangonam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}