| | This fifth newsletter covers the period from August 2025 to September 2026 |
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About the project
SYMBIOSYST 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 Network
The 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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Inauguration of demo site Agròpolis Park in Viladecans, Barcelona, Spain. |
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| On October 24th 2025 the SYMBIOSYST Project marked another important milestone with the official inauguration of its agrivoltaic demonstrator in Viladecans, Spain.
The event marked a significant step forward in demonstrating how agrivoltaic systems can successfully integrate renewable energy production with horticultural cultivation. As the first pilot plant within the project fully dedicated to horticulture, the site will support research on innovative technologies, monitoring systems, and digital solutions to optimise both crop production and solar energy generation. This agrivoltaic demo has been developed thanks to European Commission, funding and the contributions of Laborelec, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Agrotech UPC,
EURAC Research, Valmont Solar.
Find more info here. |
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WP8 field visit and co-design workshop in Viladecans |
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| On November 22nd 2025, the second field visit took place and the second co-design workshop for local and regional stakeholders was tested in VIladecans, Barcelona, Spain.
Find more info here. |
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Training Webinar on Agrivoltaic systems in plant nurseries |
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| On July 15th 2026, we reached 75 attendees with our webinar focused on Agrivoltaic systems in plant nurseries.
Many ornamental plant species require at least partial shade for optimal growth and development on ground or plastic pots. In this context, combining ornamental plant production in trees and shrubs nurseries with agri-PV systems represents a challenging application of the concept.
The discussion featured four guest speakers who explored the opportunities of agrivoltaics in plant nurseries, presenting experiences and perspectives on the applications of ornamental plants in open and closed agri-PV systems.
You can watch the full recording here. |
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| First virtual project demo tour is online!
First virtual demo project demo tour and video-documentary of the first co-design workshop for local and regional stakeholders, which took place on June 14th 2025 in Ora/Auer, South Tyrol.
Watch the video 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.
”D8.1 Dissemination and Communication Plan”;
”D5.5 Agri-PV demonstrators testing programs: first year of activity”;
”D7.1 Energy generation and utilization analysis for the existing demonstrators”
”D6.2 Simplified Model to Reach Broader Stakeholders Audience”.
You can download the documents here. |
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Latest Scientific Publications
Below is a list of recent scientific publications:
“Agrivoltaics as a win-win for rural regions? Energy and environmental justice perspectives across Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands” published in “ScienceDirect” Journal.
Click here to access the document.
“Tracing rays from leaves to sky: multispectral, penumbra-aware irradiance modelling for narrow-trained agrivoltaic orchards” published in “ScienceDirect” Journal.
Click here to access the document.
“An accurate data-driven physical model for bifacial PV power estimation” published in “ScienceDirect” Journal.
Click here to access the document.
“Growing Greener. First step on the journey to maximize Agri-Voltaic potential” published for the 53rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. Click here to access the document.
“Comparison of physical models for bifacial PV power estimation” published in “ScienceDirect” Journal.
Click here to access the document.
“Mobile Robotic Platform Architecture Adaptable to Several Agricultural Applications” published via DuEPublico. Click here to access the document.
“Assessing the Energy Yield and Irradiation Distribution in Fixed and Tracking Agrivoltaic Orchards” published for the EU PVSEC 2024 conference.
Click here to access the document. Full list of publications available here.
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WP2 has continued to make steady progress since autumn 2025. The work has further advanced the 3D irradiance modelling framework developed in SYMBIOSYST, expanding the modelling capabilities for closed agrivoltaic systems through the integration of measured BTDF data describing the transmittance and diffusion properties of typical greenhouse cover materials.
Continued developments have also strengthened the modelling of open field agrivoltaic systems, supporting more reliable assessments of both photovoltaic performance and crop light conditions. The implementation of the modelling developments planned under Tasks 2.5 (closed agrivoltaic systems) and 2.6 (open agrivoltaic systems) is also progressing steadily.
Deliverable D2.2 remains under review, and a proposal has been submitted to the European Commission to address the previously raised questions.
Deliverable D2.3 is also under review, with a revised version expected to be submitted shortly in response to the EC comments.
In parallel, D2.4 has advanced significantly through the development and refinement of preliminary agrivoltaic design tools, which are are now publicly available as a demonstration version through Deliverable D6.3.
Finally, several WP2 partners, including LuciSun, TUD and imec, have coauthored a book chapter on solar resource modelling for agrivoltaic systems, which is expected to be published by Elsevier by the end of 2026. |
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WP8 organised and conducted the second field visit and co-design workshop in Viladecans, Spain. The co-design workshop, aimed at presenting the demonstrator project while fostering direct engagement with the local communities and disseminating the project’s objectives and topics among citizens and local stakeholders.
The co-design activities offered an important opportunity to understand how local communities perceive the integration of agrivoltaics and the broader energy transition, as well as their willingness to actively participate in the related planning and design processes. Specifically, the results provided valuable insights into citizens' expectations, concerns, and interests, helping to paint a clearer picture of the role local communities can play in shaping future energy and landscape transformations.
Throughout the reporting period, WP8 also continued to participate in and contribute to several sector-related events, conferences and dissemination activities.
Project activities and results were communicated through a variety of materials and formats, including flyers, communication cards, posters and oral presentations. These activities addressed the overall objectives and progress of SYMBIOSYST, the development of the European Agrivoltaic Network, and the results learned from the co-design workshops.
With regard to the European Agrivoltaic Network, has continued to grow throughout the reporting period. At present, it has reached approximately 150 registered members, representing an important community for sharing knowledge, experiences and opportunities related to agrivoltaic systems.
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| | | | | 22-26 September 2025
LuciSun, EURAC, Imec and ETA-Florence presented Symbiosyst project with posters and oral presentations at EUPVSEC 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. |
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8 October 2025 EURAC presented Symbiosyst project at Solar Storage 2025 in Verona, Italy. |
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5 May 2026 Laimburg presented Symbiosyst project at the webinar-workshop organized by the Horizon project Agrisol. |
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8-10 April 2026 ETA-Florence presented with an oral presentation the results on the two co-design workshops at Med Green Forum 2026 in Florence, Italy. |
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11-12 June 2026 ETA-Florence presented with a poster presentation the results on the two co-design workshops at Rete IFV 2026 in Catania, Italy. |
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14-18 September 2026
TUD, EURAC, Imec, 3E, Valmont and ETA-Florence presented Symbiosyst project with posters and oral presentations at EUPVSEC 2026 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. |
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| | | | 28 November 2026
The third field visit will take place in Scalea, Italy.
More information soon on our |
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11 November 2026
The 7th Webinar will focus on the topic of: ‘Energy uses in agriculture’. The program and registration link will be published soon on our |
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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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www.symbiosyst.eu
SYMBIOSYST Project |
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