Impact of an agrivoltaic system on Aloe vera growth in a semi-arid climate

The term agrivoltaics refers to the production of photovoltaic energy and crop development. This concept is of particular interest in regions such as the southeast of Spain, where agriculture is one of the main drivers of the economy and where solar radiation is ideal for photovoltaic energy generation. The aim of this work was to assess the impact of a photovoltaic plant on the development of Aloe vera, a crop of great medicinal interest with low water and fertilization needs, and well adapted to the environmental conditions of the area (semi-arid climate and low rainfall). For this purpose, an experimental test was carried out at the Enel Green Power (EGP) photovoltaic plant (Totana, Region of Murcia, SE Spain). Three cultivation zones were established: an area with no photovoltaic panels as a control (zone 1), corridors between panel rows, which were in shade for part of the photoperiod (zone 2) and area under the panels, in shade for the whole photoperiod (zone 3). The semi-shade (zone 2) and shade (zone 3) produced by the photovoltaic panels were seen to have an impact on leaf colour, biomass and morphology of the aloe plants compared with those grown in the control zone. While plants grown under the photovoltaic panels (zone 3) had lower height and biomass than those grown under control conditions (zone 1), plants in zone 2 showed the greatest vegetative development, with significant differences compared with the control in terms of plant height and leaf volume. The results indicate that the intermittent shade and microclimate generated by the photovoltaic panels in the corridor zone between panel rows could contribute to minimizing the impact of stress caused by high solar radiation and high temperature, improving the growth of the aloe plants.