On Thursday, 13 July, numerous representatives of the renewable energy industry presented the three federal ministries for agriculture, the economy and the environment with a position paper from their Germany-wide corporate initiative for the legal recognition of biodiversity-promoting agrivoltaics (PV), on the initiative of the renewable energy group ARGE Netz. The initiative for "biodiversity-promoting agrivoltaics" now wants to use the PV boom to simultaneously create added value for biodiversity and agriculture and thus ensure a high level of social acceptance.
Biodiversity-promoting agrivoltaics or extensive agrivoltaics include ground-mounted PV systems on agricultural land that promote biodiversity through their special design and careful agricultural maintenance of the land.[1] This includes, for example, a wide sunlit strip, homogeneous water distribution by means of drip edges between the modules, insect-friendly mowing and the absence of fertilizers and pesticides.
By enabling biodiversity-promoting agri-PV parks, PV expansion secures numerous areas for biodiversity for decades without having to take up additional agricultural land. At the same time, the status of "agricultural land" removes obstacles for farmers and accelerates the expansion of photovoltaics thanks to the high level of acceptance among local authorities and residents.
Following a plant inspection by Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir in Schleswig-Holstein in June of this year, the companies are now hoping for a concrete cross-departmental initiative for their biodiversity-promoting agri-PV plants.
[1] Tim Peschel and Rolf Peschel (February 2023): Photovoltaics and biodiversity - integration instead of segregation, in: Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung - Zeitschrift für angewandte Ökologie
