The German Fraunhofer ISE and partners have tested various PV systems in the field of peat and have pointed to the importance of only the development of draining and heavily broken down peat areas for the double use of carbon storage in the generation of peat and solar energy.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems Isee (Fraunhofer Isee), together with the universities of Greifswald and Hohenheim, and the Thünen Institute, has launched a research project to investigate the impact of PV energy power stations on Patland.
The partners essentially want to answer the question whether the installation of photovoltaic systems farmers can offer farmers an incentive to re -control the soils of the Veenland.
“The parallel planning of a photovoltaic system and re -fighting is completely new territory,” explained Agnes Wilke, project manager for Peatland Photovoltaics at Fraunhofer Isee. “Within the reach of the project we want to test the best approach for Fotovoltaic systems of Veenland through concrete implementation.”
The core of the project is the research of Peatland Photovoltaics on different scales. At an experimental location in Mecklenburg-Westers Pomerania, in Northern Germany, the partners build system designs on a total of six hectares of a fen that is still being used. The site has different height heights, types of solar modules and foundations. Each system variation is investigated in combination with three different rewet conditions and water levels, with a special emphasis on ecological issues.
At a material test location in Baden-Württemberg, the project team also tests various materials, coatings and methods for the foundations of the photovoltaic systems of the Veenland on a small scale. In addition, the effects of shade by the systems on heathland countries are investigated in pot experiments.
In a photovoltaic area of approximately 200 hectares on a Moor in a lower saxony, the scientists also investigate large -scale processes, such as the greenhouse gas balance at landscape level.
Jürgen Kreyling from the University of Greifswald points to the importance of only the development of drained and heavily broken down peat areas for the double use of carbon storage when generating peat and solar energy. “We must prevent peat areas from being used for the installation of photovoltaic systems without again fighting them again,” said Kreyling, and noted that this would lead to continuous greenhouse gas emissions of the peat areas.
The interdisciplinary project consortium is broadly based. The participating disciplines include photovoltaic, economy, rights and a broad spectrum of ecology, with regard to topics ranging from hydrology to biodiversity and plant growth to greenhouse gases. The project team is also investigating the possibility of extra agricultural group by Paludiculture.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research by Germany delivers € 7 million ($ 7.6 million) for the project called “Moorpower” for a period of three and a half years.
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