Agrivoltaics for arboriculture
Summary
Swiss company Insolight inaugurated a 250 kW agrivoltaic installation on apple, pear, and apricot orchards in Conthey, producing 300 MWh per year for the grid, in collaboration with Agroscope, Romande Energie, and the canton of Valais.
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Swiss company Insolight inaugurated a 250 kW agrivoltaic installation on apple, pear, and apricot orchards in Conthey, producing 300 MWh per year for the grid, in collaboration with Agroscope, Romande Energie, and the canton of Valais.</span></p><p><strong>From <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.fr/2025/09/25/linstallation-du-jour-en-suisse-insoligth-developpe-lagrivoltaisme-arboricole/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">pv magazine France</a></strong></p>
<p><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Swiss company <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/06/28/insolight-completes-agrivoltaic-plant-at-raspberry-farm/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Insolight</a> commissioned its latest agrivoltaic installation on September 18th, built on the site of one of its partners, the Agroscope Federal Center for Agronomy, in Conthey, Switzerland.</span></span> </span></p>
<p><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">“This isn't our first pilot installation on the site. We started in 2021 with two small solar demonstrators that were used to power our models, before building a 250 kW installation on raspberry and strawberry crops, which was inaugurated in 2023. But this is our first agrivoltaic plant on tree crops, with three types of fruit trees: apple, pear, and apricot, and various technical implementations,” Mathieu Ackerman, co-founder and CTO of Insolight, told <strong>pv magazine France</strong>.</span></span> </span></p>
<p><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz"><span class="ryNqvb">The 250 kW experimental installation covers an area of 4,000 m² and includes two sub-zones: one with trackers and the other composed of fixed panels in landscape orientation, installed on the rows of trees in a specific orientation.</span></span> <span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">It is equipped with opaque and semi-transparent PERC panels, anti-hail nets, and rainproof tarpaulins, which can be deployed in several locations.</span></span> </span></p>
<p><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz"><span class="ryNqvb">Capable of producing 300 MWh per year, the modules rest on a special steel structure, mounted 4.50 meters high on driven piles, with rows spaced 4 to 5 meters apart.</span></span> </span></p>
<p><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz"><span class="ryNqvb">To study the impact of solar energy production on tree crops, a fleet of sensors was installed, measuring temperature, light levels, and soil moisture content.</span></span> </span><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">“Accessible to farmers via our in-house developed ‘Insoinsights' platform, the collected data allows us to test all sorts of combinations,” explains Mathieu Ackerman.</span></span> </span></p>
<p><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Connected to the grid and monitored, the agrivoltaic plant was financed by the distributor Romande Energie. “As a project management assistant, Insolight is not intended to invest in installations,” states its founder.</span></span> <span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">As for the energy produced, it is fully fed into the grid for a period of 15 years, sold at a variable government tariff, which, in Switzerland, offers little long-term guarantee.</span></span> <span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">The solar electricity is also sold to Denner, a distributor of the Migros group, as part of a PPA.</span></span></span></p>