Maximising Solar Irradiation of Semi-transparent Solar Panels in a Multi-loop Aquaponics System

The global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, leading to a rise in food demand from 59% to 98%. This emphasises the urgent need to ensure worldwide food security. To optimise the advantages of urban farming, there is a growing focus on exploring and implementing innovative technologies. However, integrating technology into urban farming poses challenges related to increased energy consumption. Agrivoltaics, a practice combining crop agriculture and photovoltaics electricity generation on the same land, has demonstrated enhancements in crop biomass production and energy production. This paper employs a novel modelling and simulation approach to assess the impact of various configurations (direction, height, and tilt angles) of semi-transparent agrivoltaics panels on the solar irradiation of panels and crops. Considering results and advice from local authorities, the panel configuration in a commercial-sized multi-loop aquaponics system at Metro Farm in Downtown East, Singapore, was optimised. The system experienced a 138.36% increase in solar irradiation when panels were placed in the north-facing direction at a height of 3.5 m with a tilt angle of 10° compared to a system without panels. The quantified solar irradiation of the semi-transparent agrivoltaics panels in kilo-watt hours per meter squared was extrapolated to evaluate the overall earnings for the entire urban farm.