The Solar urban garden is a multidisciplinary research and demonstration project of an agrovoltaic system to explore the combined and synergistic production of solar electricity and agricultural products.

The configuration of the garden was designed to explore the effect of shading solar panels on the productivity and irrigation needs of crops planted in the underlying zone. The study of these synergies is one of the main focuses of the research, and several advantages have already been registered:

• for plants: contrary to what one might think, plants may benefit from the shading of the panels, especially in summer, as this will reduce heat stress and irrigation needs;
• for the panels: in the presence of plants, less dust is deposited on the panels, allowing a better functioning; the panels become more efficient when the temperature is lower, a situation favored by evapotranspiration of plants; Although they constituted a more expensive system, the bifacial panels (the case of these), produce more because they are further from the ground and receive more solar radiation.

The agrovoltaic system is installed in the outdoor solar energy laboratory on the campus of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and is an initiative developed within the scope of the Sustainability Living Lab @Ciências.

Solar Garden agrovoltaic project at Campus Solar will evaluate the potential of the combined approach of photovoltaic generation and agricultural production.

The performance of the photovoltaic system with bifacial modules may benefit from the radiation reflected in the plants, which reflect radiation at a wavelength favorable to the photovoltaic conversion in the PV modules.

Photovoltaic generation may also benefit from possible reductions in dirt and dust and/or reduction in ambient temperature. On the other hand, agricultural production, and concomitant need for watering, can benefit from a more protected local environment, with some shading especially at times of the year with greater heat stress.

The planting of Solar Garden took place on the Faculty campus on March 21, 2023, International Day of Forests, within the framework of Sustainability Week, an event organized by students of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon.

For more details about the project see the article in Renewables Magazine 53 (2023) 32-33 here.

News about the event on the Faculty's website.

Project coordinators: Miguel Brito

Project members: David Avelar, Florian Ulm, Ivo Costa, Guilherme Gaspar, Jobim Convié, João Manita, António Vedes

References about the project:

• Horta Solar celebra dois anos de inovação sustentável em Lisboa - CPG Click Petroleo e Gas 
• Horta Solar celebra dois anos a impulsionar sustentabilidade e inovação no centro de Lisboa , Green Savers - SAPO
• Horta Solar celebra dois anos a contribuição de sustentabilidade e inovação no centro de Lisboa, Sustentix, SAPO
• Horta Solar: Dois anos a cultivar Sustentabilidade e Inovação | Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa
• Horta solar em Lisboa testa sistema agrovoltaico em cidade, Construir​
• Projeto da FCUL e da Image4All traz painéis solares para horta urbana para gerar energia​
• Redação AWAY
• https://say-u.pt/image4all-desenvolve-projeto-agrovoltaico-em-horta-urbana-da-fcul/
• Artigo na Renováveis Magazine 53
• Postgraduate dissertation - 2022, Manita, João Luís Ventura, Desenvolvimento de um Sistema Agrofotovoltaico
• Soluções ‘agrivoltaicas’ para um futuro sustentável | Construir
• Postgraduate dissertation - 2024 - Convié, Jobim Lopes, Synergizing Agrivoltaics, Agroforestry, and IoT for Sustainable Agriculture. Design and Implementation of a Field Experiment in Urban Environment

For further information, contact  sustentabilidade@ciencias.ulisboa.pt.