2023-10-04 06:30:30
Of its eight agrivoltaic projects in France, the TSE company has just inaugurated the second on the Brouchy site. Three hectares of crops are covered with a canopy of photovoltaic panels and have an innovative irrigation system.
Sign of destiny or irony of fate? It was in pouring rain that the TSE company inaugurated the agricultural canopy that it installed at a farmer’s home in Brouchy, in the Somme. This photovoltaic electricity production park lacked sunlight that day, but it intends to open a new dimension to the development of solar energy in France.
What does this canopy consist of? Like the upper level of a forest, it covers the lower level. At the top the photovoltaic solar panels, at the bottom the agricultural crops. The farmer, Benoît Bougler, agreed to devote 3 of his 450 hectares to the establishment of this installation. It is completed – a world first according to the president of TSE, Mathieu Debonnet – by an original irrigation system, to simultaneously achieve food production, electricity production and water savings.
The agricultural canopy of the TSE company on a farm in Brouchy. Credits Julien Bru Studio
TSE has fully developed its technology by filing several patents. It combines two issues. The first is to have a structure supporting the panels while leaving room for agricultural work. TSE opted for a series of pylons spaced 27 meters apart allowing the passage of tractors, linked together by cables which carry the solar panels 5-6 m from the ground. Each pylon is planted at a depth of 2-3 m and the stays which ensure the tension of the cables plunge to 10-15 m. Completed in 6 months, in partnership with several companies (Groupe Clisson, Canametal, DEP Engineering, Chabert MTI), the steel and concrete structure has a small footprint, 0.5% of the agricultural area covered by the canopy. It carries photovoltaic panels from JinkoSolar in around twenty rows, for a total power of 2.9 MWp. Or around 5,500 bifacial modules: direct sunlight, as well as that reflected by the ground and plants, is then converted into electricity.
Panels serving crops
The second challenge is to be able to control the installation both for electricity production and to protect crops. The solar panels are adjustable and, thanks to a sun tracking algorithm, generate 5 to 15% higher production than a fixed ground installation. The orientation of the panels will also depend on other conditions, according to information given by meteorological and mechanical sensors. Thus, in the event of rain, the panels are placed vertically to allow natural irrigation of the land. Conversely, the horizontal position of the panels will be favored during episodes of hail to avoid damage, just as during excessive heat to shade the crops. The results of the first pilot site in Amance in Haute-Saône already show a limitation of high air and ground temperatures, and protection once morest water stress, while heatwave episodes are increasing with climate change.
Among the project partners, INRAE will carry out a study for 9 years on the Brouchy site, benefiting from a control surface of five hectares next to that of the canopy. The other TSE sites will also be monitored in order to have reliable data in a diversity of situations (crop varieties, types of agricultural techniques, weather conditions, possibility of breeding, etc.).
The irrigation system set up by TSE will be included in the agronomic study. From a borehole made next to the canopy, the water is brought directly along the posts of each span of the canopy and distributed via 114 cannons arranged in a staggered pattern. Installed 3 m high, these cannons project water at an angle of 8 degrees and a range of 16 m so as not to touch the solar panels which will at that time be in a horizontal position. The system can be fully controlled remotely by the farmer, bay by bay. Without handling or reel to deploy, the time saving is real, and the expected water savings are of the order of 30% compared to a traditional system. TSE is even planning to have probes to know the humidity level of the soil and to adapt irrigation accordingly.
Electricity sold in PPP
From a commercial point of view, as is often the case in the photovoltaic sector, TSE has a 40-year long lease with the farmer. The latter remains the owner of his land and receives rent of around 1,500 euros per year per MWp. TSE ensures the maintenance of the installation. The electricity produced does not benefit from a public purchase price, it is resold directly by TSE to the company Biomérieux within the framework of a private contract (Corporate PPA) for a period of 20 years.
TSE’s overall investment in the Brouchy facility amounts to approximately 7 million euros. It benefited from aid from the European Union Innovation Fund (€2.7 million), hence the presence of the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, during the inauguration which found the project “inspiring”. The commissioner recalled that France has opened the way in Europe for agrivoltaism and that it will be necessary to develop it massively, because the usual photovoltaic solutions (roofs, ground parks, etc.) will not be sufficient for it. overall objective which is to multiply installed capacities by 4.
A message clearly heard by TSE: the company plans to ramp up to be able to install 5 GW by 2025.
Image credit of one: Julien Bru Studio
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#Photovoltaics #agriculture #combine #Brouchy
