Thomas Richards

• Richards, Thomas; Zeyringer, Marianne; Wohland, Jan; Young, Petrus; Randle-Boggis, Richard & Price, James (2026). Dual-Use Solar Strategies: Modelling LandConstrained PV Deployment in Europe. In 2026, EEM (Eds.), 2026 22nd International Conference on the European Energy Market - EEM. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 9798319535542. doi: 10.1109/EEM68581.2026.11589793. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Meeting Europe’s decarbonisation targets will require rapid expansion of solar PV, yet land-use conflicts and biodiversity protection increasingly constrain where ground mounted systems can be deployed. This paper uses the highRES electricity system model to assess how progressively stricter biodiversity protection affects solar deployment across Europe and to evaluate the economic conditions under which agrivoltaics can emerge as a viable dual land-use alternative. Results show that even stringent land-use exclusions leave sufficient unconstrained land for ground-mounted PV at system scale, though this reflects an idealised setting without competing non-energy land demands. Agrivoltaics become cost competitive only after substantial CAPEX reductions or when supported by significant agricultural co-benefits. These findings highlight the need to integrate land-use protection, renewable energy planning, and agricultural policy to enable land efficient solar expansion.

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