Agrophotovoltaic is making inroads in Italy following the investment in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) of the Next Generation EU funds, which allocates around 2% of agricultural land to the installation of photovoltaic systems. The aim of the measure is to combine solar panels and food crops on the same unit of land in order to maximize the use of land and RES share while maintaining its fertility. A2A therefore aims to identify the best crops in Italy that can be coupled with PV systems without being impacted or benefiting from the presence of PV system. Agrophotovoltaic structures can differ from standard ground-mounted PV ones, in fact they can be designed taller, movable, semitransparent, … to maximize the crops growth, hence taking into account various factors such as their diffusion in the agricultural business, cultivation techniques and the performance of the crop.
Agrophotovoltaic is today an increasingly emerging business in Italy, especially following the huge investments of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) that in 2021 has allocated about 1.1 billion euro for its development. The objective of the investment in agrophotovoltaic is to install, when fully operational, a production capacity from agrophotovoltaic plants of 1.04 GW, with an average annual production of about 1,300 GWh per year and a consequent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of about 0.8 million tons of CO2, without the compromise of land dedicated to agriculture.
To succeed in doing this, it is necessary to identify the crops which can best adapt to the presence of photovoltaic panels, and even taking advantage of them thanks to the presence of PV system. A2A therefore aims to identify the best crops that can grow together with future agrophotovoltaic plants which will be designed with the objective of maximizing the cultivation of crops, hence taking into account various factors such as their diffusion in the agricultural business, cultivation techniques and the performance of the crop.
Awards:-
- There is a guaranteed award. The award(s) will be paid to the best submission(s) as solely determined by the Seeker. The total payout will be $15,000, with at least one award being no smaller than $5,000 and no award being smaller than $2,500.
- The Solvers are not required to transfer exclusive intellectual property rights to the Seeker. Rather, by submitting a proposal, the Solver grants to the Seeker a royalty-free, perpetual, and non-exclusive license to use any information included in this proposal, including for promotional purposes.
Deadline:- 24-08-2022
