The Canarian Institute of Agricultural Research has launched an experimental installation of 60 vertical bifacial solar panels, with an investment of €97,613 funded by European funds.
The Government of the Canary Islands has taken a step forward in integrating renewable energies and agriculture with the launch of an experimental vertical photovoltaic installation at the “La Estación” farm of the Canarian Institute of Agricultural Research (ICIA), in the Gran Canaria municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana. The project, which combines bifacial solar panels arranged in a north-south orientation, aims to analyse their performance under real conditions in the archipelago and their potential for the primary sector.
The Councillors for Ecological Transition and Energy, Mariano H. Zapata, and for Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing and Food Sovereignty, Narvay Quintero, visited the facilities to see the results of this initiative first-hand. The total investment amounts to €97,613.83, coming from the Next Generation Funds of the European Union, as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
The installation features 60 bifacial photovoltaic modules, which together provide a power of 25 kWp and an estimated annual production of 42,900 kWh. Unlike conventional panels, these are placed vertically in rows, allowing light to be captured from both sides and, according to the responsible parties, generate more energy than traditional systems. Additionally, the vertical structures act as windbreaks, protecting the crops.
Zapata highlighted that “the Canary Islands have the opportunity to become a reference space for testing new energy technologies adapted to insular and climatically complex territories like ours.” The councillor emphasised that the energy transition “also involves research and exploring different solutions that allow us to use the land, respecting the environment, improving efficiency, and advancing energy sovereignty.”
For his part, Quintero noted that the ICIA “is once again at the forefront of applied research in the primary sector, evaluating technologies that can have a very positive impact on the future of agriculture in our archipelago.” The Agriculture councillor stressed that “the collaboration between agricultural innovation and energy transition is essential to provide useful tools to our farmers and strengthen the competitiveness of agriculture in the Canary Islands.”
The system is designed for isolated self-consumption, linked to agricultural and energy research projects. It includes inverters and monitoring systems that will allow real-time analysis of the energy and agronomic behaviour of this technology under Canarian climatic conditions. The collected data will be used to assess its viability in real agricultural operations.
This project is part of the ICIA's research lines on sustainability and energy efficiency. The combination of photovoltaic production and agriculture, known as agrovoltaics, seeks to reconcile land use for both activities, a particularly relevant challenge in a territory with space limitations like the islands.
The Canarian Government hopes that this pilot experience will serve as a model for future implementations in the primary sector, contributing to modernising farms and moving towards a cleaner energy model. The initiative also strengthens collaboration between the Councils of Ecological Transition and Agriculture, at a time when energy and food sovereignty are strategic priorities.
The “La Estación” farm thus becomes an open-air laboratory to test solutions that could be replicated in other areas of the archipelago. The first results are expected in the coming months, once the monitoring cycle is completed.
You may also like
