Cornell University researchers have evaluated the environmental and resource-saving potential of integrating perovskite tandem photovoltaics into agrivoltaic (AgV) lettuce production systems across the United States, revealing a pathway toward “net-negative” agricultural emissions under favorable conditions.
The team conducted a comprehensive “farm-to-fork” life-cycle assessment that links photovoltaic performance with agricultural production, water use, and supply-chain impacts. The analysis covers perovskite-silicon (P-S) and all-perovskite (P-P) tandem technologies, benchmarked against conventional silicon PV, and incorporates region-specific data on irrigation, yields, transport, and food waste. It also accounts for circular recycling and remanufacturing within a closed-loop solar economy framework, alongside avoided grid emissions from on-site electricity generation.
Multiple agrivoltaic layouts were evaluated to capture trade-offs between crop yield, water use, and energy generation. Full-density (FD) systems reduce lettuce yield by 40% while cutting irrigation demand by 50%, whereas half-density (HD) systems reduce yield by 20% and irrigation by 30%. Single-axis tracking lowers yield by 12% and irrigation by 30%, while dual-axis tracking results in a 5% yield reduction and 15% irrigation savings. For the photovoltaic component, both P-S and P-P tandems were modeled at power conversion efficiencies of 25%, 30%, and 35%, with system lifetimes ranging from 2 to 10 years.
Under optimized conditions, the integration of agrivoltaics into U.S. lettuce farming could offset up to 30.9 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions annually, comparable to the yearly emissions of approximately 4.1 million U.S. households, while conserving around 8.4 billion cubic meters of water per year - enough to meet the annual needs of 1.7 million people. At the product level, regional differences are pronounced. Florida achieves the highest emissions reduction intensity, reaching up to 78.2 kg CO2-eq per kilogram of lettuce under advanced all-perovskite tandems, driven by its lower agricultural yields and the associated increase in land area - and thus solar generation - per unit of output. In contrast, water savings are greatest in arid regions such as California’s Southern Desert and Arizona, where reductions reach up to 29.8 m3-eq per kilogram of lettuce for perovskite-silicon tandems.
The researchers have evaluated these benefits as theoretical upper bounds that depend on three critical conditions: the use of shade-tolerant crops such as lettuce, the ability to export solar electricity without grid constraints, and effective closed-loop recycling of perovskite modules. Under favorable assumptions, they find that retrofitting U.S. lettuce farmland with agrivoltaic systems could offset up to 30.9 million tons of CO₂-equivalent annually and conserve about 8.4 billion m³ of water each year. Taken together, the results suggest that carefully designed, next-generation agrivoltaics can shift farmland from a site of food-energy competition to an integrated platform for simultaneous food production, low-carbon electricity generation, and large-scale water conservation.
