Transforming agriculture with solar systems and driving the energy transition

Context

Viet Nam’s agricultural sector faces challenges from climate change, the significant depletion of resources such as fertile soil, and growing demand for high-quality agricultural products that are both environmentally and climate friendly. Meanwhile, demand for energy in Viet Nam is increasing. The country has therefore set itself the target of generating around 39 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

However, energy and food production are increasingly competing for land, and innovative solutions are needed to facilitate the transition.

Agrivoltaics is one such solution: it combines agricultural production and solar panels on agricultural land. However, this approach has not yet been widely adopted in agricultural practice in Viet Nam.

Objective

The planning and technical groundwork has been laid for the development of agrivoltaics on agricultural land in Viet Nam in a way that promotes gender equality and generates additional income.

Approach

The project focuses on four areas of action:

1. Promoting strategies for agrivoltaics: It develops a strategy for and standardised definition of agrivoltaics, analyses existing models and develops technical guidelines.
2. Better access to agrivoltaics: The project offers advisory services, using a digital database to analyse the feasibility of agrivoltaics models. It also develops information materials to enable farmers and entrepreneurs to make sound investment decisions.
3. Developing technical skills: The project improves the knowledge of government officials, farmers and private enterprise by providing training, testing pilot models with research institutes and sharing practical experience from other countries that use agrivoltaics, such as Germany and India.
4. Mobilising funding: It increases the capacity of Vietnamese farmers, government representatives and entrepreneurs, enabling them to develop financing proposals and generate additional funding for agrivoltaics.

Last update: February 2025