The Agrivoltaics Action Group focuses on a collaborative effort to explore the synergies between agriculture and solar energy generation. Through international cooperation and interdisciplinary engagement, the group aims to enhance the potential of agrivoltaics by optimizing land use, improving agricultural resilience to climate change, and encouraging broad-based support for solar energy initiatives.
The Action Group is divided into three phases of activity:
Phase 1: Action Group Formation. Key activities and outcomes in Phase 1 include: Expert identification and commitments, Board formation, clarification and definition of roles and responsibilities, and a finalization of the workplan and timeline.
Phase 2: Stakeholder Workshops. Key activities and outcomes in Phase 2 include: workshop host identification, establishing workshop schedule, conducting workshops, and summary reports.
Phase 3: Synthesis Reports: Key activities and outcomes of Phase 3 include the development of public documents on high priority research needs of agrivoltaics and an internal IEA PVPS document on the recommendations for IEA PVPS next steps on agrivoltaics.
The objectives of the workshops are to develop a common understanding of agrivoltaics in the IEA PVPS context, have a standard and consistent set of metrics and methods across IEA PVPS Tasks, and foster a community with IEA PVPS that can lead to improved research outcomes. The workshops will also serve as an opportunity to engage and include outside subject matter expertise, specifically related to agricultural and social science expertise. Researchers and practitioners from these disciplines have traditionally not been a part of IEA PVPS, but their contributions are essential to agrivoltaics research. Engagement in the Action Group workshops will provide an entry point for these outside experts to more substantially contribute to IEA PVPS activities.
The results of the workshops have indicated a desire from IEA PVPS experts and other global agrivoltaics researchers for targeted publications and resources on certain crosscutting topics that could benefit all agrivoltaics researchers. These resources would also leverage the unique position of IEA PVPS in its ability to enable international collaboration and consensus on fundamental research topics. Therefore, we are proceeding with the following public-facing deliverables, which were ranked among the highest priority topics for IEA PVPS to pursue during our stakeholder workshops:
The Action Group made significant progress in conducting stakeholder workshops and in scoping public-facing deliverables in 2025. Highlights include:
The main objectives of the Action Group are to assess the status of agrivoltaics knowledge and foster a better understanding of current trends through international and interdisciplinary collaboration. The group aims to create essential knowledge to maximize the combined use of land for agriculture and PV power generation, focusing on:
Primary Outcome:
A key deliverable will be the publication of a public report, “Status quo and global trends in agrivoltaics,” scheduled for release in 2025. This comprehensive report will not only detail the current state and trends within the sector but also include internal recommendations for future initiatives, synthesizing work across various IEA PVPS Tasks.
Secondary Outcome:
The Action Group will also focus on standardizing agrivoltaic definitions and metrics, fostering consensus and supporting the growth of the IEA PVPS agrivoltaics community. This effort will help harmonize and streamline agrivoltaics research and applications across international boundaries.
Key activities and outcomes in Phase 1 include:
Key activities and outcomes in Phase 2 include:
Key activities and outcomes of Phase 3 include the development of two synthesis reports:
The IEA PVPS Agrivoltaics Action Group activities are being driven by the Action Group Managers and a Coordination Board.
Agrivoltaics Action Group Managers
Coordination Board Members
The Action Group will focus on consolidating knowledge and enhancing collaboration in agrivoltaics, a multi-disciplinary field. Key tasks involved will include Task 12 on PV Sustainability, Task 13 on Photovoltaic System Reliability, and Task 16 on Solar Resource Management. Tasks 12 and 13 will release agrivoltaics reports in 2024. The group will coordinate various initiatives through reviews, virtual meetings, and workshops to promote community engagement and standardize methods, setting the stage for future research and global collaborations.
