Agrivoltaic structures can help reduce food inflation

Food in Spain costs 40 % more today than in 2021, twice the rise in the general cost of living over the same period, according to the latest EAE Business School report. Behind it are crops exposed to more heat, less water and rising production costs, and forecasts from the Potsdam Institute and the ECB point to additional increases of 0.9 % to 3.2 % a year until 2035 due to climate change.

Against that backdrop, agrivoltaic structures have become established in Italy, Germany and France as a real way to ease the economic pressure on farms. According to our own data, a 100-hectare farm working under our installations can cut between €15,000 and €40,000 a year in operating costs thanks to lower water, pumping energy, fertiliser and pesticide use.

“These results are not the consequence of a single variable. They are the sum of what happens when a crop works under different conditions, with less water stress, fewer heat losses and less dependence on external inputs.”
José Antonio Maldonado, CEO and founder of Alphatracker

A more efficient harvest

The partial shade of the panels slows soil evaporation and reduces plant water stress: according to our measurements, up to 60 % lower irrigation needs. Ground temperature stays between 25 and 30 °C, versus the 50 or 60 °C a field can reach under direct summer sun, avoiding heat shock, sunburn on fruit and crop losses.

• Under extreme heat, 10–30 % fewer production losses in certain crops.
• In some horticultural crops, the productive window extends by 2 to 4 weeks.
• Minimum yield of 98 % versus a control field, measured in active projects over three years.

The structures are compatible with crops such as kiwi, berries, olives, melon, aromatic herbs and pasture: precisely the most water-intensive and most exposed to climate change.

“If we can get an olive grower, a berry producer or a citrus farmer to need up to 60 % less water for practically the same harvest, we are tackling food inflation at its source.”
José Antonio Maldonado

Source and media coverage: Energética 21.