Solar photovoltaic wood racking mechanical design for trellis-based agrivoltaics

▼Western University's Free Appropriate Sustainability Technology (FAST) Research Group

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Using a trellis to plant vegetables and fruits can double or triple the yield per acre as well as reduce diseases/pests, ease harvesting and make cleaner produce. Cultivars such as cucumbers, grapes, kiwi, melons, peas, passion fruit, pole beans, pumpkins, strawberries, squash, and tomatoes are all grown with trellises. Many of these cultivars showed increased yield with partial shading with semi-transparent solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. To further increase the efficiency of trellis-based growing systems, this study investigates novel low-cost, open-source, sustainable, wood-based PV racking designs for agrivoltaic applications. Design calculations are made to ensure these racks exceed Canadian building code standards, which with snow loads surpass those of most of the world. A complete bill of materials, fabrication instructions, and proof-of-concept prototypes are provided for three system topographies (sloped, T-shaped and inverse Y) along with economic analysis. In addition, to being cost competitive, the designs can act as trellis supports and be used for irrigation/fertigation purposes. The results indicate that these racking structures have enormous promise both agriculturally and energetically. If employed on only grape farms inside Canada, 10 GW of PV potential is made available, which is more than twice the total current installed PV in Canada.

▼Pearce publications

FAST · MOST · QAS

Agrivoltaics · Energy Conservation · Energy Policy · Floatovoltaivs · Industrial Symbiosis · Life Cycle Analysis · Materials Science · Medical · Open Source · Photovoltaic Systems · Resilient Food · Solar Cells · Sustainable Development · Sustainability Education · Water

Sustainable development; Open-source; Photovoltaic; racking; solar energy; biomaterials; wood; photovoltaic; mechanical design; balance of systems; renewable energy; open source; do-it-yourself; grapes; trellis

• To Catch the Sun
• 3-D printable photovoltaic module spacer
• Open source DIY solar photovoltaic racking
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• Circular PV panel

• Ground-mounted
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  3-D Printing Solar Photovoltaic Racking in Developing World
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  Open-Source Vertical Swinging Wood-Based Solar Photovoltaic Racking Systems
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  Vertical Free-Swinging Photovoltaic Racking Energy Modelling: A Novel Approach to Agrivoltaics
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  Impacts of Location on Designs and Economics of DIY Low-Cost Fixed-Tilt Open Source Wood Solar Photovoltaic Racking
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  Open-Source Design and Economics of Manual Variable-Tilt Angle DIY Wood-Based Solar Photovoltaic Racking System
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  Low-cost pole and wire photovoltaic racking
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  Parametric Open Source Cold-Frame Agrivoltaic Systems
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  The potential for fencing to be used as low-cost solar photovoltaic racking
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  Geographic potential of shotcrete photovoltaic racking: Direct and low-concentration cases
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  Open-source Photovoltaic - Electrical Vehicle Carport Designs
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  Geographical Dependence of Open Hardware Optimization: Case Study of Solar Photovoltaic Racking
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  Solar photovoltaic wood racking mechanical design for trellis-based agrivoltaics
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  Wood and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System
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  Ballast-Supported Foundation Designs for DIY Low-Cost Open-Source Solar Photovoltaic Racking Systems
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  Distributed Manufacturing for Distributed Generation: 3-D Printed Solar Photovoltaic Module Mounting Mechanisms for Wood Racking
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  Mechanical and economic analysis of conventional aluminum photovoltaic module frames, frames with side holes, and open-source downward-fastened frames for non-traditional racking
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  Technical, Economic and Environmental Potential of Recycled Polycarbonate Solar Photovoltaic Frames

• Roof-mounted
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  Total U.S. cost evaluation of low-weight tension-based photovoltaic flat-roof mounted racking
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  Design of Post-Consumer Modification of Standard Solar Modules to Form Large-Area Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Roof Slates
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  Distributed manufacturing with 3-D printing: a case study of recreational vehicle solar photovoltaic mounting systems

• FPV
• 
  Distributed manufacturing of after market flexible floating photovoltaic modules
• 
  Experimental integration of a foam-based floating photovoltaic (floatovoltaic) system with an anion exchange membrane electrolyzer for 5 kW-Scale green hydrogen production
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  The Greenest Solar Power? Life Cycle Assessment of Foam-Based Flexible Floatovoltaics
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  Foam-based floatovoltaics: A potential solution to disappearing terminal natural lakes
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  Design and Performance Analysis of Foam-Based Floating Photovoltaic Systems in Winter Climates: Case Study of an Experimental 7kW Floatovoltaics in Canada

• Circular PV
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  Open-source distributed production of polycarbonate solar photovoltaic modules designed for disassembly