Join the trial lecture - September 11th at 10:15 AM (room 402, Department of Technology Systems)
"Profitability of combining food and PV-energy production, addressing systems and structural aspects".
Conferral summary
Solkraft og jordbruk krever begge sollys og store arealer, noe som ofte fører til konkurranse. I sin avhandling har Erlend Hustad Honningdalsnes brukt simuleringer og satellittanalyse til å utforske hvordan de to kan sameksistere ved at matvekster dyrkes mellom vertikale solcellerader. Funnene hans tyder på at eksisterende anlegg av denne typen bevarer jordbruksproduktiviteten samtidig som de produserer strøm, og han viser hvordan panelenes evne til å bremse vinden kan utnyttes slik at avlingene kan bli høyere enn i tradisjonelt jordbruk.
Main research findings
Solar power is the world's fastest growing energy source, but it requires a lot of space. Agricultural land is vast and often well suited for solar panels, so the two sometimes compete for the same areas. People have started combining them on the same land, but many such concepts sacrifice some food production for electricity. In regions like Northern Europe, where farmland can be scarce and protected, even small agricultural losses may be unacceptable.
This thesis studies vertical rows of solar panels with crops in between, using computer simulations and satellites. The satellite analysis provides new insight into how existing systems worldwide perform, with results indicating that agricultural productivity is well maintained alongside energy production.
The simulations show that the reduced wind speed between the rows can more than make up for the negative effect of shading on crops. Such dual-use systems, when properly designed, may therefore achieve even higher yields than conventional farming. To support such design work, the thesis shows that the simulations can be run fast enough for computers to automatically find optimal designs, and suggests further improvements.
Chair of defence
Prof., PhD Paal Engelstad, University of Oslo
Adjudication committee
1st Opponent: Senior researcher, PhD, Alessandra Scognamiglio, Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA)
2nd Opponent: Prof., PhD, Jan Capelle, Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven
Chair of committee: Prof., PhD, Josef Noll, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Main supervisor: Senior researcher., PhD, Heine Nygard Riise, IFE
Co-supervisor: Prof, PhD, Erik Stensrud Marstein, University of Oslo
Candidate contact information
Email: Erlend.honningdalsnes@ik.me
Mobile phone +47 922 24 606
For more information
PhD-coordinator: Yvonne Baade