The magic of the fruit: the agricultural field that produces electricity is taking over Israel Israel today

The global climate and energy crises are accelerating the search for alternative and green energy sources.

Israel was indeed a pioneer in the utilization of solar energy, but experts believe that its limited area requires groundbreaking thinking that would allow the utilization of agricultural land for the purpose of energy production, without harming the agricultural product.

The State of Israel has set as a goal that by the year 2030 - 30% of all electricity production in the country will be from renewable energy, which will be produced from the sun.

Meeting the goal will place Israel among the leading solar countries in the world.

At the beginning of March, the annual renewable energy conference Sunyside APV Summit will be held in Israel, at the foundation of the Ma'ale, where groundbreaking research and ventures in the agro-voltaic field will be presented.

This is a technology that combines agriculture and solar electricity production, using solar installations located above agricultural crops in a way that allows the continuation of agricultural activity.

Agricultural field with solar panels.

Open spaces are not usurped, photo: Dr. Gideon Friedman

Agricultural field with solar panels.

Creating shading, photo: Dr. Gideon Friedman

The advantage is that the electricity is produced without ceasing agricultural processing and without usurping additional open areas, and on the other hand, controlled shading can contribute to improving the agricultural yield and its quality, and will even contribute to the development of crops in areas that previously were not suitable for growing them.

German-Israeli cooperation

Israeli involvement in the agro-voltaic field began following an Israeli-German scientific collaboration with the "Frauenhofer" research institute.

The Foreign Ministry envoy for economic and scientific affairs at the Israeli embassy in Germany, Hila Engelhardt, approached the Fraunhofer Solar Energy Institute in Freiburg about two years ago, where research was already underway in the field.

Following this appeal, extensive activity began in Israel - in cooperation with the ministries of energy, agriculture and environment - to study the applicability of the agro-voltaic technique in Israel.

"The advantages of this technique in Israel are greater than in Germany," explains Yael Harman, the representative of the Ministry of Energy in Germany, "The energy facilities erected above the crops produce shading, which, due to the heavy heat in Israel, is an advantage for the agricultural crops. There is an ability to save between 30-50% of the crops' water consumption, And the facilities can provide protection from extreme weather events - cold strokes and heat strokes. In Israel, a test was carried out of the effect of the argo-voltaic facilities for energy production on various crops. For the purpose of the test, 130 plots in about 100 settlements with 55 different types of crops were selected.

The site for solar energy of the Negev Energy Company in the Negev.

Progress in the field of international research in Agro-Voltay will bring change, photo: Dodo Greenspan

"The data was collected simultaneously from all plots using a special application developed for the purpose. The first facilities for energy production are already under construction in Ma'ale Gilboa and Naan. It is about the possibility of diversifying sources of income for farmers and there is a lot of interest in this. Israel is currently working to overtake the whole world in the agro-voltaic field. We have turned from a student to a teacher ".

"The German side was very enthusiastic about the combination created in Israel between the government ministries, the agricultural sector and the academy to promote research and applications," emphasizes Engelhard, "that's why you will come to the conference in the foundation that brings together a mixed delegation of representatives of the Ministry of Energy, researchers and entrepreneurs."

"There are more challenges"

The conference in Israel, which will be held on March 1-2, will deal with the research aspects - technological, economic and environmental - of agro-voltaics with the participation of entrepreneurs, farmers, energy companies and people from technology and research companies in the field.

Another goal of the conference is to discuss with all parties the sensitive balance between the many elements essential to planning the integration of solar platforms in agricultural areas.

The Ministers of the Economy, Nir Barkat, of Science, Ofir Akunis and of the Environment, Adit Silman, announced their arrival at the conference.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat.

will participate in the conference, photo: Noam Rivkin Fenton

Science Minister Ofir Akunis.

Discuss with all the parties, photo: Olivier Fitosi, Flash 90

Uri Ben-Hertzel, Vice President of Business Development at the Miguel Institute for Applied Scientific Research and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Agrivoltaics International Conference: "In the past year, we have seen significant progress in the field of international research in agrovoltaic, which brings examples from the field of the farmer's ability to use solar panels for the benefit of the crops.

At the same time, in Israel this year there was substantial progress in the field, led by the Ministries of Energy and Agriculture, together with the inter-ministerial committee led by the Ministry of Finance, which established recommendations for the outline of the advancement of the field.

"The Miguel Research Institute has set the agro-voltaic field as a strategic target for research, in light of the enormous impact potential inherent in combining technologies from different worlds. At the same time, there are still challenges and barriers that must be addressed, such as connection to the grid, property aspects, business model between entrepreneurs and landowners , regulations to protect agriculture in aspects of food security and more. Miguel is organizing the conference, to connect all the different sectors into one practical discussion arena, to discuss the challenges, bring examples from the world, and chart the way forward. The conference will be held in collaboration with representatives from Europe, the USA , Japan, Africa and more, following the international understanding - that Israel has made the Agri-Voltaic domain a strategic goal at the national level."

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