Join One of Our Technical Tours
To round off your experience, join one of our Technical Tours, where the bus ride becomes an interactive deep dive and a relaxed networking opportunity — making the most of your time together and making professional connections.
On site you will get first-hand insights, be able to explore the applications and engage directly with experts behind the projects.
Integrated into the Program
The tours are part of the conference program. After lunch, shuttle services will depart from the venue and provide transportation to both installations. During registration via the ticket shop, you can chose which tour you would like to join. After the visit both shuttles will go back to the venue for the networking dinner.
Ecolieu Lecampagne
Location: Aillas (33)
Capacity: 100 kW
Area: 1000 m²
What makes this Agri-PV project unique ?
This AgriPV project is fully integrated in an organic farm following the principles of Agroforestry and regenerative Agriculture. Our AgriPV greenhouse uses semi-transparent PV panels to grow exotic fruits in agroforestry
What impact has the installation had so far on agricultural production, energy generation, and the local community?
The installation allows to have 9 months of tropical temperatures and a semi-shaded environment to grow bananas, avocados, citruses and guavas in a region where this is not possible. Fruits are sold fresh and processed in the region.
What lessons from this project could help shape the future of Agri-PV development in Europe?
1) AgriPV can seemlessly integrated into an organic regenerative farm.
2) This project can be fully upscaled to larger farms in order to adapt to climate change in introduce niche products with high added value to the European market.
3) In this context, AgriPV can be a real assest for climate change adaptation, ecological transition and diversification.
Fontenet
Location: Former military camp in Fontenet, France
Capacity: 66 MWp composed of 3 sites
Area: 80 hectares in total
What makes this Agri-PV project unique ?
Fontenet's uniqueness lies in the fact that it anticipated the principles of agrivoltaics long before the concept was formally defined. When sheep grazing was introduced on the site in 2019, agrivoltaics was still an emerging idea, and the official French definition would not be established until 2024. For this reason, Fontenet cannot be classified as an APV project under today's regulatory framework. Yet, in many ways, it help us to shape APV definition, by exploring how renewable energy production and agricultural activity can coexist and create value together.
Over the years, Fontenet became much more than a solar power plant with sheep grazing on site. It serves as a living laboratory where practical experience, observations from the field, and close collaboration with the farmer helped shape a deeper understanding of the relationship between PV and agriculture. The lessons learned on site played an important role in guiding BayWa r.e.'s agrivoltaic strategy. In 2022, a research project, called SOLAR, was launch in collaboration with INRAE Poitiers (URP3F*), laying the foundations for scientific research institute PNR Agri-PV. This research project aimed to assess the impact of PV panels on micro-climate conditions and the development of vegetation cover.
Fontenet was developed in three successive phases between 2014 and 2024. Each stage reflected new insights, evolving farming practices, and ongoing discussions with the farmer. This progressive approach ensured that the project remained closely aligned with agricultural needs while continuously improving the integration of farming activities within the solar site. Agriculture has remained at the heart of the site's evolution. Grassland was established before the commissioning of Fontenet 2 and, following the severe drought of 2022, the area was overseeded to restore and strengthen vegetation cover. Dedicated infrastructure, including fencing, livestock handling facilities, and watering systems, was also installed to support grazing operations and facilitate daily farm management.
Today, Fontenet stands as an important milestone in the journey towards agrivoltaics. While it may not meet the formal definition of an Agri-PV project, it provided the practical experience, partnerships, and insights that helped shape the next generation of projects.
What impact has the installation had so far on agricultural production, energy generation, and the local community?
The 3 sites which composed Fontenet are a new home to more than 450 sheeps belonging to Judickaël Richard, a local farmer who has been a BayWa r.e. partner for several years. Thanks to the expansion of the site, he has been able to triple his husbandry and expand his farm to nearly 80 hectares. The pastures beneath the solar panels provide high-quality grass cover, naturally maintained by grazing. The sheeps benefit from shaded areas during the summer, while the farmer has access to new fenced pasture areas suited to his operations.
What lessons from this project could help shape the future of Agri-PV development in Europe?
The solar farm Fontenet has been part of a french studies led by INRAe. It focuses on the microclimates created by rows of solar panels. Micrometeorological stations were installed in late 2020 at three BayWa r.e. sites (included Fontenet). The goal of this project is to develop a scientific model to identify which concrete and optimal solutions are applicable at a given site to facilitate synergies between agriculture and solar power generation, based on local climate conditions. It focuses on forage crops grown under and between solar panels. The study will seek to determine the relationship between the microclimate and crop performance.
