Dual-Use Solar Strategies: Modelling Land-Constrained PV Deployement in Europe

This paper explores agrivoltaic deployment scenarios in Europe based on land-use constraints, ecological sensitivity, and grid decarbonisation. Land across Europe is increasingly contested, for example between energy infrastructure, food production, and habitat conservation. With solar PV deployment accelerating, the need to identify land-use strategies that enhance renewable electricity generation without compromising agricultural productivity or biodiversity has become critical. Agrivoltaics offer a potential solution to these constraints by integrating PV within farming systems such that farming and energy outputs are produced concurrently.

The paper investigates two novel research questions to inform agrivoltaic site selection and determine potential synergies:
(1) how do land-use constraints and agrivoltaic implementation affect the renewable energy mix in a decarbonised European energy system?
(2) to what extent do agrivoltaics mitigate land competition and reduce reliance on ecologically sensitive sites?

The highRES model of Europe will be used to address these questions. The model is designed to analyse the effects of high shares of variable renewable energy on the energy system. Deployment scenarios will be modelled with varying land protection constraints to assess whether farmland can be leveraged to relieve pressure on contested land. The findings will demonstrate whether integrating dual-use and alternative PV technologies enables stricter land protection policies whilst maintaining energy system performance.