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| Newsletter #4This fourth newsletter covers the period from January to July 2025 |
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| About the projectSYMBIOSYST Project investigates innovative systems to go beyond the idea of solar energy generation and agriculture as two separate sectors, and find a new synergy where land & crops and photovoltaics can have a mutually beneficial relationship. The project develops different PV solutions for open field and greenhouse agriculture and their demonstration in four rural landscape types, in three different European countries. |
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| About the European Agrivoltaic NetworkThe Network, part of the Symbiosyst objectives, includes relevant agrivoltaic experiences and pilot plants across all EU Member States, including Horizon EU-funded projects (and other programs), stakeholder networks and pilot developers. The objective is to promote knowledge sharing, exchange good practices, and host webinars and physical events to foster collaboration. The final goal is to create a truly European community for agri-PV development.
Click here to be part of the network! |
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| | | Fourth project General Assembly in Delft and field visit at KUBO’s facilities |
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| On January 21st and 22nd, SYMBIOSYST held its 4th General Assembly at @TU Delft campus, the Netherlands, bringing together project partners for two days of discussions, updates, and site visits. The meeting focused on the agrivoltaic demonstration sites in South Tyrol (Italy) and Catalunya (Spain); two important milestones in the project’s implementation. The second day concluded with a field visit to the Dutch demonstration site at KUBO Group’s greenhouse in South Holland, guided by Barry Van Marrewijk, Manager Project Office / Team lead Research & Development at KUBO. The demo applies mono-facial PV modules to just 1% of the greenhouse roof, with the goal of studying how this small shading effect can impact vegetable growth, as even minimal shading can influence Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) in the South Holland region. The project has drawn interest from local farmers, who grow vegetables and flowers in greenhouses and are particularly concerned about the potential challenges. |
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| | Inauguration of IT demo in Ora/Auer on 26th May |
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| On May 26th, the SYMBIOSYST Project celebrated an important milestone with the first official opening of its demonstrator project in Ora/Auer, South Tyrol, Italy. The event marked a key step forward in showcasing how renewable energy solutions can harmoniously integrate with local agricultural and environmental systems. This demo represents a tangible example of the project’s mission to foster sustainable, synergistic relationships between clean energy technologies and natural landscapes. A sincere thanks to Eurac Research, Laimburg Research Centre, Südtiroler Bauernbund, EF Solare Italia, and Valmont Solar, as project’s partners, who contributed to making this achievement possible and to the European Commission for its ongoing support and funding of the project.
Link to published press releases: PV magazine, Quotidiano Energia, ESG 360, infobuildenergia, Arena Digitale, Ingenio, Eurac Research, Eurac research, QualEnergia, Energia Oltre, Energia & Mercato, ESG NEWS, GreenMe, e-gazette, UNSERtirol.com |
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| | WP6 workshop in South Tyrol |
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| On February 2nd, the Unione Coltivatori Diretti Sudtirolesi/Südtiroler Bauernbund, in collaboration with Eurac Research, organized a webinar within the Symbiosyst project with over 200 participants, followed by a workshop in Ora/Auer, including working tables on political, socio-economic, technological, environmental aspects and targeted on local and regional stakeholders. Find more info here |
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| | WP6-WP8 field visit and co-design workshop in Ora/Auer |
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| On June 14th, the first field visit took place and the first co-design workshop for local and regional stakeholders was tested in Ora/Auer, South Tyrol. More info here |
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| | Training Webinar on participatory approaches |
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| On July 24th, we reached over 60 attendees with our webinar focused on participatory approaches in agrivoltaics. Grounded in the belief that engaging local communities is fundamental to driving systemic design in Agri-PV, the webinar aimed to provide insights into innovative strategies for involving stakeholders in project development. The discussion featured two guest speakers who shared their experiences and perspectives on community-based approaches in the implementation of Agri-PV. You can watch the full recording on our website. |
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| Website Update: Discover key insights from European Agrivoltaic Network (WP8)
We have recently updated our website section for the European Agrivoltaic Network. Find more here. |
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| Latest project deliverables
The recent reports delivered by the project are listed below. Please note that they have been submitted to the European Commission, but their content has not yet been approved.
”D3.3 Datasheets and instruction manuals for agri-PV solutions for demos” “D7.3 Definitions and KPIs for agri-PV plants” “D8.2 Strategy for the European Agrivoltaics community” “D2.2 Validation and benchmark of modelling tools for light assessment using ray-tracing and GPU-based method” “D4.1 Eco design requirements and guidelines for agri-pv” “D4.2 Environmental performance and circularity analysis of the proposed SYMBIOSYST technologies“
You can download the documents here. |
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| Latest project scientific publications
Below is a list of recent scientific publications: “Modelling, simulation, and optimisation of agrivoltaic systems: a comprehensive review” published in “Applied Energy” Journal. Click here to access the document. “Evaluating the influence of different agrivoltaic topologies on PV energy, crop yields and land productivity in a temperate climate” published in “Renewable Energy” Journal. Click here to access the document.
Full list of publications available here. |
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| The new demo in the Catalunya region
The demonstrator project has been finally built, and lettuces have been planted under the PV trackers. |
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| 30 January 2025 SBB presented the state of the art of the technology, economic feasibility, legal framework and the pilot plant at the webinar on Agri-PV for SBB members. |
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| 2 March 2025 ETA-Florence presented the project at a seminar organized by MED and CHANGE at the University of Evora, Portugal. |
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| 19-21 March 2025 EURAC Research presented a poster at the XIX Conference of the Associazione Rete Italiana LCA in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. |
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| 7–9 May 2025 VALMONT and LUCISUN presented the Symbiosyst project at the Intersolar Europe Conference in Munich, Germany. |
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| 27-28 May 2025 ETA-Florence presented a poster on the EU Agrivoltaic Network at the IFV Network Conference in Naples, Italy. |
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| 28 May 2025 SBB presented the state of the art of Agri-PV in South Tyrol for the board of the south Tyrolian farmers youth organization. |
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| 26 June 2025 UPC presented SYMBIOSYST at the III Agropolis Conference: research and transfer in plant production in Viladecans, Barcelona, Spain. |
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| 1-3 July 2025 KUL, IMEC, TUDelft, Lucisun and ETA-Florence presented posters at the 6th AgriVoltaics World Conference in Freiburg, Germany. |
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| | | | 22-26 September 2025 LUCISUN will present the results of Work Package 2 in the “Special Introductory Presentation”, EURAC Research will present the first results from the monitoring campaign in the SYMBIOSYST demonstrators, and ETA-Florence will present the EU Agrivoltaic Network at EU PVSEC 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. |
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| 21-22 October 2025 LUCISUN will participate in AgriVoltaics Industry Forum Europe in Milan, Italy. |
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| 4-6 November 2025 EURAC will participate in the 4th Annual Agrivoltaics Europe in Rome, Italy |
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| 22 November 2025 WP6 and WP8 will organize a field visit and co-design workshop hosted by UPC-Agrivoltopolis in Viladecans, Catalunya, Spain. |
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| 25-26 November 2025 The SYMBIOSYST Project organizes an oral session on Agri-PV at the Integrated Photovoltaic Conference in Florence, Italy. |
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| | | THE PROJECT
SYMBIOSYST – Create a Symbiosis where PV and agriculture can have a mutually beneficial relationship, is an Horizon Europe Innovation Action started in January 2023 that will continue through December 2026 |
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| CONTACTS
info@symbiosyst.eu |
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| | www.symbiosyst.eu SYMBIOSYST Project |
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