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DUAL HARVEST
AGRIVOLTAICS LIMITED

Agrivoltaic Solutions

Every farm is different.
Every configuration has its place.

We help you find the right fit — across 16 configurations, 5 families, and the full range of UK land, crop, and water contexts.

Not a farmer? This page is still for you.

Local Authorities, Community Energy Groups, and water infrastructure bodies manage significant land and water assets where agrivoltaic deployment is viable. The configuration families below apply equally to publicly managed reservoirs, IDB drainage infrastructure, and community-owned land. Contact us if you're unsure where to start.

Agrivoltaics is not a single technology — it is a family of approaches, each suited to a different combination of land type, crop, water infrastructure, and financial objective. Dual Harvest Agrivoltaics advises across the full range of commercially relevant configurations for UK conditions and latitudes. We don't start with a product. We start with your land.

Configuration Family 1

Field Systems

For arable, mixed, and grassland farms

Vertical Bifacial PV (VBPV)

Panels mounted vertically in east-west rows, generating power from both faces simultaneously — morning from the east, evening from the west. This dual-peak generation profile aligns with periods of peak grid demand and significantly reduces battery storage requirements. At row spacings of 8–10 metres, 80–90% of the land between rows remains fully productive.

Best suited to: Winter wheat, barley, oilseed rape, grass leys, mixed arable rotations.
Key advantages: Dual-peak generation; high crop productivity retention; low visual impact; no microplastics risk.

Single-Axis Tracking (SAT)

Panels mounted on a horizontal tracking axis, rotating through the day to follow the sun's arc. SAT systems generate significantly more energy per panel than fixed systems. Two orientations are available — north-south tracking (conventional) and east-west tracking (lower wind loading, suits exposed sites).

Best suited to: Potatoes, maize, permanent grassland, lower-intensity arable rotations.
Key advantages: Higher energy yield than fixed systems; adjustable elevation for machinery clearance.

Dual-Axis Tracking (DAT)

Panels track both azimuth and elevation, optimising generation throughout every hour of every day. Particularly relevant at UK latitudes where low winter sun angles significantly reduce the output of fixed systems.

Best suited to: High-value energy use cases; constrained land area; significant winter energy demand.
Key advantages: Maximum energy yield; strong winter performance at UK latitudes; suits off-grid ambitions.

Agri-Boundary / Headland VBPV

VBPV installed on field boundaries, headlands, or alongside existing hedgerows and drainage channels — without crossing into the productive field area. The smallest possible agricultural footprint and the simplest planning case.

Best suited to: Farms new to agrivoltaics; planning-sensitive sites; operations where productive acreage cannot be compromised.
Key advantages: Zero productive land impact; lowest planning risk; fastest route to farm energy generation.

Configuration Family 2

Protected Cropping & Horticulture

For soft fruit, salad, vine, and glasshouse operations

Fixed Overhead Canopy APV

A rigid elevated structure at 4–5 metres, carrying semi-transparent photovoltaic panels above the crop canopy. Reduces heat stress in summer, mitigates late frost risk in spring, and retains soil moisture — whilst generating energy from the panels above.

Best suited to: Soft fruit, salads, herbs, cut flowers, nursery crops.
Key advantages: Microclimate management; frost mitigation; moisture retention; dual income stream.

Polytunnel-Integrated BIPV

Semi-transparent or spectrally-selective PV panels integrated with polytunnel structures in three ways: retrofitted over existing polythene fabric (lowest disruption); retrofitted into the structure replacing a proportion of covering; or specified into new builds. The over-fabric retrofit allows installation without disturbing the cropping environment.

Best suited to: Strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy crops, ornamentals.
Key advantages: Three retrofit pathways; reduced polythene consumption; energy generation with minimal operational disruption.

Glasshouse-Integrated BIPV / CEA

Thin-film photovoltaic glazing — available at 0–80% light transmission — integrated into glasshouse roof and wall panels. Combined with battery storage and private wire design, a fully integrated glasshouse system can approach energy self-sufficiency.

Best suited to: Tomatoes, peppers, ornamentals, microgreens, high-value controlled-environment production.
Key advantages: Energy self-sufficiency potential; reduced grid dependency; bespoke panel sizing.

Horticultural Shade-Net APV

Semi-transparent PV integrated into open-sided shade netting systems — lower capital cost than rigid canopy, suited to operations already using netting for pest exclusion or sun protection.

Best suited to: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, nursery stock, salad crops.
Key advantages: Lower capital cost; compatible with existing netting infrastructure; flexible and relocatable.

Mushroom & Shade-Crop APV

Dense, near-opaque panel arrays providing deep shade conditions required by crops that cannot tolerate direct sunlight. High energy yield from the panel area whilst enabling productive cultivation beneath.

Best suited to: Mushrooms, forced rhubarb, ginseng, medicinal herbs.
Key advantages: High energy yield from dense coverage; productive use of land unsuitable for conventional crops.

Viticulturevoltaics

PV integrated with UK vineyard operations — overhead canopy above vine rows or inter-row vertical systems. With 256 commercial wine producers operating across England and Wales, and vineyard area having grown over 400% since 2004, the UK wine industry has reached the scale where agrivoltaic investment is commercially viable. Spring frost protection is a material benefit, particularly for northern vineyards.

Best suited to: UK vineyard operations; particularly Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Severn Valley, Southwest, and northern vineyards where frost risk is highest.
Key advantages: Frost protection for early bud-break varieties; dual income; growing market with limited specialist adviser presence.

Configuration Family 3

Water Systems

For reservoirs, irrigation ponds, drainage dykes, and wetland infrastructure

Floatovoltaic (FPV)

Six dry springs in eight years have driven significant farm reservoir investment across East Anglia and the East Midlands, whilst rising grid energy costs continue to erode the economics of irrigation pumping. Floatovoltaic systems address both pressures from the same asset — generating energy from the water surface, reducing evaporation from the stored water beneath, and improving panel efficiency through natural water cooling.

Best suited to: Farm irrigation reservoirs; drainage ponds; IDB-managed water bodies; arable and horticultural holdings.
Key advantages: No productive land used; evaporation reduction extends effective reservoir storage; offsets irrigation pumping costs.

Aquavoltaic / Canal-Top Solar

PV installed over irrigation channels, drainage dykes, or canals — supported on bridging structures above the water surface. Reduces evaporation from linear water infrastructure. The Association of Drainage Authorities manages water infrastructure serving over 1.2 million hectares — the linear drainage channels within IDB districts represent a largely untapped corridor for canal-top solar.

Best suited to: Linear water infrastructure; IDB-managed drainage systems; irrigation channel networks.
Key advantages: Zero land footprint; evaporation reduction; suited to long, linear water management systems.

Peatland & Wetland Adjacent FPV

Floating or near-floating PV systems on rewetted peatland or managed wetland — supporting the economics of peatland restoration programmes by generating an energy revenue stream from land being taken out of agricultural production.

Best suited to: Rewetting programmes; ELMS higher-tier agreements; nature recovery projects.
Key advantages: Revenue stream for peatland restoration; compatible with wetland ecology; ELMS scheme alignment.

Configuration Family 4

Agroforestry & Ecology

For tree crop, orchard, and biodiversity-led operations

Silvovoltaic

PV integrated within fruit, nut, or shelter-belt tree rows — inter-row vertical systems or elevated arrays above young tree plantings. Compatible with Environmental Land Management scheme higher-tier agroforestry agreements. Long-term carbon, biodiversity, and soil health co-benefits compound over the installation lifetime.

Best suited to: Dessert apple, pear, cherry orchards; hazel and walnut; willow coppice; new agroforestry plantings.
Key advantages: ELM scheme compatibility; long-term carbon and biodiversity co-benefits; dual income during tree establishment.

Beevoltaics / Pollinator APV

An understorey management approach applicable to any panel configuration — establishing managed wildflower and pollinator habitat between and beneath panels. Increasingly relevant to Biodiversity Net Gain requirements in planning applications.

Best suited to: Any configuration where understorey management is a planning or ecological objective.
Key advantages: Biodiversity Net Gain contribution; planning support; pollination services for adjacent crops.

Configuration Family 5

Farm Infrastructure

For dairy, poultry, arable storage, and mixed farm buildings

Livestock Building-Integrated PV (Barn BIPV)

Photovoltaic panels integrated into the roofs and south-facing elevations of farm buildings — dairy sheds, poultry houses, grain stores, farm workshops. Building-integrated PV on a large dairy or poultry unit can supply a significant proportion of operational energy demand.

Best suited to: Dairy farms; intensive poultry; large arable storage buildings; mixed farms with high energy demand.
Key advantages: No land footprint; immediate energy cost reduction; lowest planning risk; natural entry point for farms new to solar.

Not sure which configuration suits your site?

That's exactly what we're here for. Tell us about your land, your energy costs, and your objectives — we'll tell you what's possible.

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