
VeCon Vertical Agri-PV light
A light weight on the field.
STRUCTURE
VeCon Vertical Agri-PV light
Three basic components
Vertical steel structure
Pile driven foundation and field pillar in one component
Distance along the row of about 7m between the field pillars
No concrete necessary on the field
Horizontal steel structure
made of steel wire
Support for the free-swinging photovoltaic modules
Anchoring of the wire structure at the beginning and end of each row
Bifacial photovoltaic modules
East/west orientation (ideal)
Standard PV-modules, with standard frames and an output of 700 watts.
ADVANTAGES
What are the advantages?
For the land use
Grassland and pasture
- With a clear height of up to 1 meter, the system is perfect for low-growing crops and grassland areas.
- Grazing of small animals is possible without any restrictions
Installation of peripherals
- The anchoring area can be used for the installation of peripherals (e.g. inverters).
Double land use
- Double land use with minimal impact on agriculture
- Approximately 90% of the farmland is retained after installation.
- In Europe: CAP payments for farmers thereby secured
- About 30% – 40% of the installed capacity of a free-field photovoltaic system is used on agricultural land for photovoltaic power generation.
120% - 130% of land use
ADVANTAGES
For investors
High PV density
- Row spacing of only 6 meters required, allowing the area to be optimally equipped with PV technology.
Low use of steel
- The use of steel is reduced to less than 25kg/kWp.
- Steel level of ground-mounted systems
- Pile-driving depth comparable to ground-mounted systems (< 2 meters pile-driving depth)
Efficient construction
- The total height is approx. 2 meters, making installation possible without special machinery.
- Additional work is only required for wire alignment and wire tensioning.
ADVANTAGES
For the farm
No restriction on field cultivation
- The modules can swing over the mower or rake due to their clearance height.
Almost maintenance-free
- Less dirt sticks to the module surface due to the vertical design.
- Cleaning effect through rain
Simple installation
- Can be set up using only pile-driven foundations and at normal working height
- Simple installation through wire structure over the entire length of the row
Low ground impact
- Fully reversible deconstruction without land impact
- Almost 100% recyclable
ADVANTAGES
For power generation
Bifacial PV modules in combination with vertical installation:
- Irradiation on both sides of the modules (yield of the bifacial side at about 90% of the front side)
- Additional irradiation due to indirect radiation and ground reflection (albedo effect)
Additional yield compared to a south oriented system (20°) with monofacial modules of about 10%
Power generation during the off-peak (annual) periods:
- No generation peak in the midday hours, no “switching off” of the generation peak due to grid bottlenecks during this time
Higher attainable market price on the energy stock markets of approx. 10%
The increase of PV leads to decreasing profile values of all PV technologies*:
- Yields on the electricity exchange decline.
- Vertical, bifacial systems can continue to generate higher returns on the electricity exchanges due to higher energy production in marginal areas (seasons and times of day).
*source: enervis energy advisors GmbH, 2022
CONTACT
Your contact
Crops with a high shadow tolerance can also be grown and benefit from the dynamically changing shade across the field.
Crops with low and medium shadow tolerance are ideally suited between the rows of the VeCon Vertical Agri-PV system.
The grazing of animals is possible without restrictions:
- Possible for smaller (chickens, sheep, etc.) and larger animals (cows, horses, etc.)
- Changing shadows cast by the modules serve as recreation zones for the animals.
Advantages compared to existing systems:
- Adaption of the lower edge of the photovoltaic module (clear height) to the head height of the animals to prevent damage at the modules
- In addition: Modules can avoid animals.
- No localized, permanent shading of the area as with horizontal systems, which makes it difficult for the meadow/pasture to grow back
Explanation of the decreasing drag coefficient (cD) to the system
To illustrate the wind movement, the plus system is shown
The reduction of the area exposed to wind with increasing wind speed leads
to a significant reduction of the structural loads.