Vertical solar panels could save farm land
Added on 14 February 2023
Sunstall, a California-based company, has launched a vertical solar panel, Sunzaun, which can be used in existing fields and arable lands without sacrificing them for clean green energy. The installation is much like conventional solar systems, just that the system uses bifacial solar modules, and the entire array stands like a boundary wall in the field.
As countries look to move away from fossil fuels, the interest in solar energy has increased in recent years. Countries in Europe facing harsh winters are also finding new ways of tapping into solar energy, such as installing solar panels at high altitudes. In such a scenario, dedicating large swathes of agricultural lands to build solar farms might seem like overkill. This is where the field of agrivoltaics has helped by dual purposing available land.
Vertical solar panels
Even though agrivoltaics is a relatively new field, it has already set some norms, like the use of elevated platforms for mounting solar panels. This allows the land to be used for growing crops while shielding it from the harsh sun and reducing the water required to cultivate a crop.
This is a useful concept but increases the cost of installation. Sunzuan's vertical solar panels break this norm by making it simpler to install solar panels since no elevated platforms need to be built. The vertical panels can be lined up wherever it is convenient to place them and can even be installed with a slope of up to 15 degrees.
Photo: Sunzuan
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