agronomy Article Techno-Economic Viability of Agro-Photovoltaic Irrigated Arable Lands in the EU-Med Region: A Case-Study in Southwestern Spain Guillermo P. Moreda 1, Miguel A. Muñoz-García 1,* , M. Carmen Alonso-García 2 and Luis Hernández-Callejo 3 1 LPF-TAGRALIA, Departamento de Ingeniería Agroforestal, ETS de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] 2 Unidad de Energía Solar Fotovoltaica, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] 3 Departamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Automática, Universidad de Valladolid, 42004 Soria, Spain;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +34-9-1067-0968 Abstract: Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is positioned to play a major role in the electricity generation mix of Mediterranean countries. Nonetheless, substantial increase in ground-mounted PV installed capacity could lead to competition with the agricultural use of land. A way to avert the peril is the electricity-food dual use of land or agro-photovoltaics (APV). Here, the profitability of a hypothetical APV system deployed on irrigated arable lands of southwestern Spain is analyzed. The basic generator design, comprised of fixed-tilt opaque monofacial PV modules on a 5 m ground- Citation: Moreda, G.P.; clearance substructure, featured 555.5 kWp/ha. Two APV shed orientations, due south and due Muñoz-García, M.A.; Alonso-García, southwest, were compared. Two 4-year annual-crop rotations, cultivated beneath the heightened M.C.; Hernández-Callejo, L. PV modules and with each rotation spanning 24 ha, were studied. One crop rotation was headed by Techno-Economic Viability of early potato, while the other was headed by processing tomato.