Photo voltaic monitoring panels help top quality rice yields in Japan agrivoltaics trial
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 06, 2025
As Japan expands its renewable power portfolio, a brand new research from the College of Tokyo presents perception right into a dual-use land technique that mixes photo voltaic power technology with rice cultivation. This agrivoltaics pilot, performed in Miyada-mura, Nagano Prefecture, examined the viability of rising rice beneath photo voltaic panels mounted on a dual-axis sun-tracking system.
The researchers put in photovoltaic panels three meters above a rice paddy, enabling the system to observe the solar all through the day and throughout seasons. In the course of the planting season, the panels had been adjusted to permit extra daylight to succeed in the rice, whereas within the low season, the configuration was optimized for power output.
Rice yields beneath the panels reached 75 p.c and 85 p.c of these from standard paddies through the first and second years, respectively. Enhancements within the second yr had been attributed to raised daylight calibration. Crucially, the rice met Japan’s high grain high quality benchmarks.
The photo voltaic array produced almost 44,000 kilowatt-hours yearly, reaching an power effectivity of 961.4 kWh per kilowatt – corresponding to main methods in Europe. The price of manufacturing over 20 years was estimated at 27 yen per kilowatt-hour, aligning with typical family charges in Japan, even with out subsidies.
The staff emphasised the significance of dynamic shading administration to strike a steadiness between crop productiveness and photo voltaic output. They proposed future enhancements equivalent to real-time daylight optimization utilizing AI and the usage of high-efficiency or semi-transparent PV supplies to attenuate shading.
As Japan targets substantial photo voltaic growth by 2030, the research advocates for agrivoltaics as a method to harmonize clear power objectives with meals safety, significantly in space-limited rural areas.
Analysis Report:Case study of rice farming in Japan under agriphotovoltaic system
Associated Hyperlinks
SPIE–International Society for Optics and Photonics
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com
