Strawberry agrivoltaics in Canada: Comparing uniform thin film and non-uniform crystalline silicon semi-transparent solar photovoltaic modules in controlled environment agriculture

While colocation of solar photovoltaic (PV) and strawberry cultivation has shown promise, the impact of different types of illumination on plant growth remains uncertain. To provide information to strawberry agrivoltaic system designers, this study performs a comparative analysis of strawberry cultivation under 1) uniform illumination provided by thin-film cadmium telluride (Cd-Te) with 30%, 40% and 70% transparent PV modules and 2) non-uniform semitransparent crystalline silicon (c-Si) with 25% (red - using a red dye for spectral changes), 44% (clear) and 69% (clear) transparent bifacial PV modules, which include rows of solar cells and transparent glass elements. All systems were assessed in a controlled biome that simulated the outdoor conditions of London, ON, using regulated temperatures. The strawberry fresh weight, plant height, leaf count, and flower count were quantified under each agrivoltaic system, and economics were analyzed. The results show that higher strawberry yields were consistently observed under non-uniform shading of c-Si semi-transparent PV compared to uniform thin-film PV. Specifically, while 70% uniformly transparent Cd-Te PV module resulted in 140.6% of the average control fresh weight, non-uniformly 69% transparent c-Si PV achieved a maximum fresh weight of 201.4%, more than the average control. Coupled to the economic value of the PV generation, the Canadian strawberry agrivoltaics sector could generate more than twice the revenue from traditional strawberry farming alone. These results underscore the dual benefits of agrivoltaics to both enhance agricultural productivity while achieving substantial clean energy production.