Optimizing agrivoltaic systems for sustainable energy and food production: A case study of East Thrace, Türkiye

This study investigates the potential of agrivoltaic systems to address the interconnected challenges of climate change, food security, and sustainable energy generation in East Thrace, Türkiye. The research employs a multi-objective optimization framework to determine optimal land allocation between PV panels and crops under varying economic and environmental priorities. Utilizing Global Climate Model outputs and machine learning techniques, the study forecasts renewable energy generation and water resource availability. The optimization process, driven by the NSGA-II algorithm, balances competing objectives of income maximization and environmental impact mitigation. The findings reveal significant trade-offs between profit and environmental objectives, with land allocation decisions sensitive to priority weighting. Prioritizing profit maximization increases PV area and income but reduces crop area and carbon sequestration, while environmental prioritization favours agricultural productivity and lower emissions at the expense of profit. Balanced weight scenarios provide middle-ground solutions with moderate trade-offs, highlighting the importance of stakeholder-specific prioritization. Life Cycle Assessment results demonstrate the system's potential to significantly reduce global warming potential, particulate matter, and photochemical ozone impacts. The study also demonstrates the potential of agrivoltaic systems to improve water-use efficiency, reducing water demand by 4.5% to 14%, which is vital for water-scarce regions like East Thrace.