Productive Curtailment in Agrivoltaic Systems under Flexible Interconnection Agreements

Abstract

Flexible interconnection agreements are increasingly used to streamline the distributed generation interconnection process by limiting real power exports and avoiding costly grid upgrades. Agrivoltaic systems--solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed over agricultural land--can provide added value under these agreements by adjusting the PV panels away from sun tracking while increasing the sunlight available to crops. This technical note investigates the operation of agrivoltaics under flexible interconnection limits and evaluates their impact on both PV energy production and crop outcomes. We formulate an optimization problem that determines the time-varying tilt of a single-axis tracking agrivoltaic system to maximize energy production subject to a real power export limit over an entire growing season. The resulting PV operating schedules are then used to evaluate PV energy production and crop yield. In a case study, we demonstrate that agrivoltaic systems can comply with flexible interconnection agreements through operational adjustments that improve crop yield, distinguishing them from conventional PV systems that rely solely on inverter curtailment.