Agrivoltaics for food–energy–water security: technological advances, agronomic impacts, and policy pathways for sustainable development: a review

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry

Abstract

Agrivoltaics (AV), the simultaneous generation of agricultural products and solar energy, has been found to be a promising technology that can solve the problems of land use conflicts, climate change, water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus. This review discusses the conceptualization of AV systems and how they have evolved to their current large-scale implementation, including system design, crop–livestock integration, energy generation, resource-use efficiency and socio-economic advantages. A detailed overview of recent worldwide research is provided to assess the agronomic performance and PV efficiency in agricultural environments, as well as ecosystem services provided to the environment, such as improved biodiversity, ecological resilience, carbon sequestration, and water conservation. The review also examines the techno-economic viability of AV systems, new revenue sources, and policy and regulatory landscape impacting AV use throughout various regions. The issues of high investment costs, crop–PV compatibility, optimization of long-term systems and policy/regulatory obstacles are all critically discussed. Furthermore, future research directions are outlined, including the optimization of the AV system using AI, selection of climate-resilient crops, digital agriculture, and the combination of AV systems and hybrid renewable energy technologies and energy storage. Overall, the findings demonstrate that AV represents a sustainable and integrated land-use strategy capable of simultaneously enhancing food production, renewable energy generation, environmental sustainability, and rural livelihoods.

DOI

10.1007/s10973-026-16213-9

Publication Date

9-2026

Language

eng

Rights

restricted access

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