{"id":107239,"key":"The_Agrivoltaic_Potential_of_Canada","title":"The Agrivoltaic Potential of Canada","latest":{"id":1273247,"timestamp":"2026-09-16T13:09:12Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"{{Solar footer}}\n\n{{FAST notice}}\n\n[[File:Agrivoltaics-canada.png|thumb]]\n\n{{Publication data\n| type = Paper\n| cite-as = Jamil, U.; Bonnington, A.; Pearce, J.M. The Agrivoltaic Potential of Canada. ''Sustainability'' 2023, 15, 3228. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043228 [https://www.academia.edu/96663239/The_Agrivoltaic_Potential_of_Canada academia OA], [https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202301.0414/v1 preprint]\n| year = 2023\n| location = Canada\n}}\n\nCanada has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by increasing the non-emitting share of electricity generation to 90% by 2030. As solar energy costs have plummeted, agrivoltaics (the co-development of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and agriculture) provide an economic path to these goals. This study quantifies agrivoltaic potential in Canada by province using geographical information system analysis of agricultural areas and numerical simulations. The systems modeled would enable the conventional farming of field crops to continue (and potentially increase yield) by using bifacial PV for single-axis tracking and vertical system configurations. Between a quarter (vertical) and more than one third (single-axis tracking) of Canada’s electrical energy needs can be provided solely by agrivoltaics using only 1% of current agricultural lands. These results show that agrivoltaics could be a major contributor to sustainable electricity generation and provide Canada with the ability to render the power generation sector net zero/GHG emission free. It is clear that the potential of agrivoltaic-based solar energy production in Canada far outstrips current electric demand and can, thus, be used to electrify and decarbonize transportation and heating, expand economic opportunities by powering the burgeoning computing sector, and export green electricity to the U.S. to help eliminate their dependence on fossil fuels.\n\n{{Pearce publications notice}}\n\n== See also ==\n\n{{Pearce-agrivoltaics}}\n\n* [[Agrivoltaics Canada]]\n\n{{Page data\n| keywords = agriculture, agrivoltaic, Canada, energy policy, farming, Canada, photovoltaic, solar energy, energy, solar power, photovoltaics, Land use, Dual use, agriculture, energy policy, FAST Completed\n| sdg = SDG02 Zero hunger, SDG07 Affordable and clean energy, SDG08 Decent work and economic growth, SDG09 Industry innovation and infrastructure, SDG12 Responsible consumption and production\n| published = 2023\n| authors = User:Uzairjamil, User:J.M.Pearce\n| organizations = Free Appropriate Sustainable Technology, Western\n| license = CC-BY-SA-4.0\n| language = en\n}}\n\n[[Category:Canada]]\n[[Category:Energy policy]]\n[[Category:Farming]]\n[[Category:Energy]]\n[[Category:Land use]]\n[[Category:Agriculture]]\n[[Category:FAST Completed]]"}