Fraunhofer ISE develops lightweight agriPV modules to mount on crops

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Lightweight solar agriPV modules with weather protection covering cherry trees in Germany
A first pilot system above cherry trees at a fruit farm in southern Germany, pictured above, was implemented earlier in April 2025. Image: Fraunhofer ISE.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and weather protection provider VOEN have developed lightweight modules for applications in the agrivoltaics (agriPV) sector.

The modules are light enough to be mounted on conventional weather protection systems for certain crops, such as fruit trees. The companies are also testing various solutions for attaching the lightweight modules to existing substructures and for new weather protection systems.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

A first pilot system above cherry trees at a fruit farm in southern Germany was implemented last week. The system installed covers two rows of cherry trees with a length of nearly 40 metres.

“The setup is incredibly simple, whether as a new build or retrofit solution,” said Leo Vöhringer, project manager at VOEN. “It was important to us to tailor an agriPV concept to fruit-growing practices, and not the other way around. Our concept maintains the established crop protection against weather and other damaging influences.”

During the times of the year that the weather protection is not required, it can be packed away and stored under the solar modules, according to Fraunhofer ISE. The project team will monitor the system’s electricity output and the cherry trees’ harvest throughout the year and will evaluate the data collected at the end of the year.

Within the project, the research team used specially developed software to simulate the optimal module size while still ensuring that the cherry trees’ yield is not affected by shading.

“The new concept addresses two factors that make agriPV systems more expensive than ground-mounted photovoltaics: the higher costs for constructing the mounting system and for installing the PV modules,” added Felix Basler, project manager at Fraunhofer ISE.

“In addition to developing the affordable lightweight modules, we designed and tested various solutions for their uncomplicated installation on traditional weather protection systems used in speciality crop cultivation.”

Read Next

October 14, 2025
German IPP wpd has started construction at its 140.6MW Marcy solar park in the Nièvre department of central France.
October 9, 2025
Germany has awarded contracts to 490MW of solar-plus-storage projects in its latest “innovation” auction for co-located renewables.
October 6, 2025
German solar inverter manufacturer SMA Solar will cut 350 jobs in 2026 as it adapts to the “weak” residential PV market.
September 30, 2025
US solar developer Sol Systems has completed construction on a 342MW PV project in the state of Illinois.
September 29, 2025
German renewables developer ABO Energy is looking to begin owning and operating its energy projects in a transition from a “pure play” developer to an independent power producer (IPP) model.
September 25, 2025
A Fraunhofer and SolarPower Europe study has concluded that reaching the EU's annual solar module manufacturing target of 30GW is achievable.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK