Semitransparent organic and perovskite photovoltaics for agrivoltaic applications

Abstract

Greenhouse structures offer the ability to control the microclimate, enabling year-round crop cultivation and precision agriculture techniques. To maintain optimal crop growth conditions, substantial energy is required to heat, light, irrigate, and ventilate the interior greenhouse environment. The term Agrivoltaics is coined from integrating agricultural land management with renewable solar energy systems. Most agrivoltaic research applications have focused on studying opaque silicon photovoltaics, with limited exploration of novel semitransparent photovoltaics such as organic or perovskite devices. By incorporating semitransparent photovoltaic systems onto greenhouse rooftops, farms can partially generate electricity from solar energy while utilizing the remaining rooftop light transmission to nurture greenhouse plant growth below. This review explores the principles and properties of semitransparent organic and perovskite photovoltaic technologies and their potential benefits for greenhouse applications. Additionally, we discuss practical case studies to illustrate their integration and efficacy in agrivoltaic systems. We also address key metrics such as average visible transmittance, average photosynthetic transmittance, light utilization efficiency, power conversion efficiency, and their impact on greenhouse energy production. We conclude with an analysis of device challenges, including stability and toxicity issues, limited experimental results of semitransparent photovoltaics in current greenhouse agrivoltaics, and the prospects for integrating semitransparent organic photovoltaics and semitransparent perovskite photovoltaics into agrivoltaic systems.