Agrivoltaic System Development Barriers from European Legislative Framework Perspective

The energy sector, especially in Europe passes a very hard period. Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine just exposed a large degree of dependence on fossil resources from Russia. The greatest dependency is in the natural gas sector, but also in the oil, coal, or nuclear products sectors. In reaction, European Union release new proceedings called RePowerEU to get rid of dependence on Russia and other hostile countries and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Renewable energy sources have a key role in this energy transition, typically because of no operational commodities, or simply safely obtainable commodities for the operation of these resources. Agrivoltaics as part of the whole photovoltaic sector are in many countries tested in pilot projects and definitions are slowly implementing into national policies. Different countries are trying to implement agrivoltaics in their policy in different ways, and several pilot installations are helping each government to understand the technology. Agrivoltaics has many forms and types. It can be combined with permanent cultures like berries, apple farms or conventional agriculture. After many years of testing agrivoltaics around the world, the biggest barrier is the legislative and permitting process. This paper highlights key barriers to agrivoltaic systems and describes ways how to unlock them.