The decarbonisation pathway launched in Italy to contribute to the achievement of the European Union’s climate and energy targets by 2030 requires a greater contribution of renewable energy sources in the power sector. In this context, in recent years a growing interest is observed in the agrivoltaic systems, which are multifunctional systems that offer the possibility of a more efficient land use by combining agricultural crop production and energy production in the same land and represent one of the most promising solutions in relation to the land competition between renewable energy generation and food production.

A strategic planning for agrivoltaic systems diffusion requires the preliminary assessment of the potential environmental impacts/benefits with respect to the corresponding mono-productive systems as well as the identification of technology solutions characterized by the best environmental performance. In this framework, the research activity had the objective to provide a guideline on the application of the Life Cycle Assessment – LCA methodology to estimate the environmental impacts associated to agrivoltaic systems.

The guideline has been developed according to the methodological phases that characterize an LCA study, in compliance with the LCA international standards (ISO 14040) and analysing in detail the most critical aspects for multifunctional systems, such as, for example, the identification of the main function and the selection of the most suitable approach for the attribution of the corresponding environmental loads. Specifically, two macro-categories, considered representative of most of the feasible plant solutions, were identified for the agrivoltaic systems and specific methodological indications have been provided for conducting an LCA.

The provided guideline represents a support for LCA analysts involved in the environmental assessment of agrivoltaic systems in support of the national electricity sector.

The Report is available on the Italian site