An Approach to Optimize Cultivable Land Use for Solar PV Installation

Abstract

Unlike the traditional power plants where the efficiency of turbines and engines is relatively high, the current available technology of power conversion efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cell is still very low. Hence, the amount of land required for large-scale solar PV power generation is very high compared to conventional power generation technologies. The proposed approach incorporates new ideas for dual usage of cultivable land for cultivation as well as for power generation. In addition to that, this paper establishes the new approach by analysis in RETScreen. During power generation period, PV plant will be operated at its maximum capacity for power generation. While during cultivation period, the plant will be operated at reduced capacity. The system will be a grid-tied system, and all the generated electricity will be exported to the grid. So, both electricity and crops will be produced from the same land, and thus the land usage will be maximized.