Plant production agrivoltaics across southern Australia

The climate of the Swan Valley and Perth Hills wine regions presents unique challenges, such as high temperatures and reduced water availability during the growing season. These conditions made it an ideal candidate for the demonstration of agrisolar solutions, where solar panels are installed above the grape vines in a vineyard.

The Hub, in partnership with industry partners, has installed a first of its kind in Western Australia solar array above a commercial vineyard at Plume Estate in the Perth Hills. This demonstration site aimed to assess whether agrisolar could benefit Western Australia’s viticultural systems.

Soil, climate, vine, yield and quality data were captured at the demonstration site and used for modelling production and economic impacts.

The Universities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Western Australia all have similar arrays over trial sites and helped us to understand the impacts on fruit production.

In collaboration with growers and researchers, the unit supported codesign efforts to better understand co-benefits and trade-offs and refine the system for broader applicability and scalability in the region. Additionally, the facility hosted extension activities to engage with local growers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers, promoting the opportunities and challenges of agrisolar in viticultural systems.