Solar beer, France tests innovative agrivoltaic for hops

Double-sided panels for the innovative agrivoltaic plant in Luçon

(Sustainabilityenvironment.com) – In France solar energy tends a hand to the world of beer to km0. It happens in the city of Luçon, in the Loire, where in recent days an innovative experimental agrovoltaic plant has been inaugurated. The project is signed by Q Energy France, a company active in the transalpine renewable energy market, and aims to integrate the production of solar energy with that of hops.

Today the system consists of only two structures made directly on the rows and equipped in the upper part, more than 5 meters from the ground, with double-sided solar panels. 52 modules in all on about 1 hectare of land. The installation will allow the plants to grow while producing electricity from the sun, but constantly monitoring the crop yield and climatic conditions.

“This is an innovative and complex prototype that combines agricultural feasibility and solar potential and gets the support of all stakeholders,” said Céline Spitzhorn, Director of the Solar Unit of Q Energy France. “A complex challenge as there was still no feedback on this type of project. It is for all these reasons that we are pleased to inaugurate this prototype today, together with all stakeholders in the region who have contributed to its realization“.

In the coming months, through a protocol validated by the Chamber of Agriculture of the Pays de la Loire, the innovative agrivoltaic of Luçon will be monitored and evaluated to test its product and benefits. To perfect the project, Q Energy France will organize meetings and exchanges to rethink and improve the system that, once finalized, will have a 20 MW installed capacity. Covering an area of about 35 hectares. The hops obtained will supply the 24 microbreweries and breweries of the Vendée with the aim of reducing most of the imports of this plant from abroad.