Agrivoltaic systems have the potential to meet energy demands of electric vehicles in rural Oregon, US

The transportation sector contributes roughly 25% of global CO₂emissions from fossil fuel combustion¹and is the fastest growing source of all greenhouse gas emissions². Passenger vehicles make up the majority (44%) of the transportation sector’s energy demand and approximately 80% of those vehicles are powered by gasoline³. Dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels and significant environmental impacts make the current transportation sector unsustainable².

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered the most promising advancement in the pursuit of sustainable transportation⁴. Widespread adoption has the potential to reduce oil dependency and emissions⁵, particularly when the EV manufacturing process and electricity generation are decarbonized^2,6,7. This potential has been recognized by governments across the globe, which have set goals that include eliminating gasoline and diesel vehicles and fully converting to electric or hybrid vehicles by as early as 2025^8,9. While the widespread promotion of EVs has led to significant growth in EV ownership in many countries over the past decade¹⁰, the market share of EVs remains small, representing only 4.6% of vehicle sales worldwide in 2020¹¹. Further, the projected growth of EV sales varies significantly across regions and countries. The US is projected to reach only 8% of new car sales by 2030, compared to 26% and 28%, respectively, in Europe and China⁸.

A primary hindrance to widespread adoption of EVs is range anxiety, particularly in rural America¹². Range anxiety is the fear of running out of electricity before reaching a charging station and is the most influential factor when a consumer considers an EV purchase¹³. Two distinct challenges must be addressed to mitigate range anxiety: (1) improve the range EVs can travel on a given charge, and (2) increase the density of charging stations, particularly in rural areas where their density is lowest^12,14.

The emerging technology of agrivoltaics presents a unique opportunity to improve charging infrastructure in rural areas where electrical infrastructure tends to be weaker¹². Agrivoltaic systems (AVS) co-locate agricultural production and photo voltaic energy production for mutual benefits. These benefits can include, for some areas and climates, increased agricultural production^15,16,17,18, increased renewable energy production^19,20, increased land use efficiency^21,22,23,24, and increased total revenue^18,19,25,26. Further, agricultural land is recognized as the land cover type with the most solar power production potential²⁰. Agricultural land is also distributed where EV charging station density is lowest. AVS has the potential to generate clean energy on-site at rurally-distributed points of EV demand without competing for land with the agriculture industry. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of leveraging AVS technology to improve EVCS infrastructure. Through a site suitability analysis, we analyze the rural locations at which AVS is capable of powering EVCSs to meet future EV power needs in magnitude. Temporal matching of load and generation were not considered. Also note that this analysis takes a highly conservative approach. That is the envisioned scenario is maximum demand (traffic) on calendar month with lowest photovoltaic generation potential. Our results show that even within these constraints, agrivoltaics could play a role in charging station infrastructure development. We evaluate the potential for our proposed approach to mitigate range anxiety and CO₂emissions related to vehicle use.