Eco- and Agri-Solar

SUNfarming präsentiert seine langjährig entwickelten Agri-PV-Konzepte für Tierhaltung und Sonderkulturen auf der Intersolar 2025, der weltweit führenden Fachmesse für die Solarwirtschaft. Besuchen Sie uns in Halle A4, Stand 130 und erfahren Sie mehr über unsere neuesten Projekte und Agri-PV-Konzepte.
SUNfarming will be presenting its Agri-PV concepts for animal husbandry and special crops, which have been developed over many years, at Intersolar 2025, the world's leading trade fair for the solar industry. Visit us in hall A4, booth 130 and learn more about our latest projects and Agri-PV concepts.

For visitors to our stand: You are hereby cordially invited to contact Ms. Janine Breitenfeld and make an appointment:
j.breitenfeld(at)sunfarming.de

In addition to rooftop PV, ground-mounted systems on landfills and conversion areas as well as floating PV systems, SUNfarming's particular focus is on the development, construction and operation of agrivoltaic systems for animal husbandry and as well as for fruit and vegetable cultivation in Germany and internationally. With innovative dual use concepts specifically for agriculture, horticulture and viticulture, SUNfarming is driving forward the energy transition in a sustainable way. SUNfarming develops innovative PV solutions with its own engineers, has already realized more than 650 MW of installed capacity and has a short-term pipeline of 4 GWp with approx. 0.8 GWp in the late development phase.

With a total of 25,000 photovoltaic modules, this innovative plant will not only contribute to the regional energy transition, but also serve as another example of the sustainable reuse of former landfill sites.
The PV system will generate green electricity in the Eberswalde region and thus make an important contribution to supplying regional companies. In addition, the plant will save around 5,000 tons of CO2 annually and thus have a positive impact on climate protection.
Thies Schrum, Member of the Management Board of SUNfarming, emphasizes: "We are pleased that, together with our long-standing partners, we are also implementing special systems on buildings in addition to our main focus on agri-solar systems in order to sustainably shape the energy transition through the multiple use of land.
With this project, SUNfarming is continuing on its path of creating sustainable solutions for energy supply and leaving a positive ecological footprint.

SUNfarming Agri-Solar animal welfare systems.

Peter Schrum from Schleswig-Holstein and Martin Tauschke from Brandenburg founded the solar company SUNfarming in Erkner near Berlin in 2004. With their own system developers, steel constructors and engineers, SUNfarming developed foundation systems, substructures and solar module qualities, which are co-labelled for SUNfarming and, as glass-glass modules, are characterised above all are also characterised by the highest hail and hurricane resistance. In the first few years, the main focus was on roof photovoltaic plants, conversion areas and landfill sites with PV systems were realised in Germany, the agricultural economist Peter Schrum, in view of the damage caused by climate change in Africa and the upcoming waves of refugees travelling to Europe about a food & energy plant in Africa. These are now known as Agri-PV systems. In 2012, SUNfarming built the first plant on the African on the African continent. Since then it has been supporting training in organic farming and provides people with food security and renewable energy. Fruit, vegetables and fruit, vegetables and medicinal herbs.

Since then, SUNfarming has been researching and optimising the use of agri-PV systems with crop cultivation and animal husbandry and is the only provider in the agri PV market has developed a rainwater management system under the system, which prevents soil erosion avoids soil erosion and promotes vegetation by distributing rainwater over a wide area. The first solar package in 2021 made it possible to introduce the Agri-PV concepts, which have now been tried and tested for more than ten years, to the German market. Various types of fruit and vegetables are planted under the modules, protected from the weather; Suckler cows, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and fallow deer find shelter from the rain and sun. The SUNfarming flowering meadows for more biodiversity are home to many native insect species.

For farmers and investors, the latest legislation offers opportunities in the field of agri-solar. One Agri-PVA can be installed per farm or farmstead. Privileged according to §35 BauGB, para. 1, no. 9 and DIN SPEC 91434 for animal welfare and organic cultivation of fruit and vegetables. The agricultural use for commercial purposes under the facility must be proven. ‘In addition to the generation of renewable energy and climate protection, we want to use our concept, we want to ensure that the land on which electricity is generated can continue to be used for agricultural purposes,’ explains Peter Schrum. ‘Farmers should keep one hundred per cent of their farmland and not lose it to the large energy producers, who are squeezing them out with high lease payments for ground-mounted systems.’

In addition aspects of nature conservation must be taken into account, areas must not be sealed and broad public acceptance must be achieved. ‘SUNfarming Agri-PVA are designed for a service life of at least 30 years and are fixed horizontally at a minimum height of 2.10 metres. With a south-facing orientation of 15 degrees, we achieve between 1.1 and 1.3 MW per hectare of agricultural land in Germany, depending on the location,’ explains Martin Tauschke, co-founder of SUNfarming. ‘Land under our systems retains its agricultural status and therefore remains an agricultural asset for property tax and inheritance tax purposes unchanged in agricultural assets.’

The largest SUNfarming Agri-PVAs will be will be built from autumn 2024 in the eastern German federal states, where agricultural land is large and land values are often low, and others in western and southern German regions. The SUNfarming management is optimistic about the future thanks to the new features of Solar Package I and the increase in the maximum bid value for Agri-PVA in accordance with DIN SPEC to 9.5 ct/kWh. ‘On agricultural land, there can be no other solution than an Agri-PV system in accordance with DIN SPEC if the land is to be preserved sustainably for agriculture and regional value creation,’ says Edith Seemann, Managing Director Project Development. SUNfarming sees further potential for Agri-PV systems in Germany
for more than 800,000 hectares of agricultural land, i.e. almost five per cent of agricultural land in Germany.

For SUNfarming, the 20th anniversary marks a milestone in the development towards the combined utilisation of agrivoltaic systems with battery storage, biogas plants for municipal heat heat supply and energy storage, as well as Agri-PV-wind energy combinations for the production of green hydrogen.

Ursula Eckmann
The graduate engineer is project manager at SUNfarming

About SUNfarming
SUNfarming is now developing a plant volume of more than 5 GW of Agri-PV plants in
agri-PV systems in Germany and employs over 150 people nationwide. In 2021 and 2022, the company was further strengthened by the new managing directors Thies Schrum and Edith Seemann. SUNfarming has received several internationally for its holistic, sustainable solar concepts (food, energy, training).

In 2023, Peter Schrum was honoured for his services to international sustainability projects for food security, support for people in developing countries and his Food & Energy concept with the Federal Cross of Merit. At the company's own research and development centre in Rathenow near Berlin, SUNfarming presents the latest solutions and concepts for Agri-PV with animal husbandry and crop production as well as biodiversity PV and peatland PV to several thousand visitors and interested citizens/farmers/municipal decision-makers every year.
https://sunfarming.de/geschaeftsbereich/agri-und-oeko-solaranlagen

On 26 November 2024, an exciting event on the topic of ‘Agriculture with a future’ took place in Güstrow. As part of this event, organised by Bürgschaftsbank Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Edith Seemann, Managing Director of Project Development at SUNfarming, spoke to 40 experienced bank advisors about innovative agri-photovoltaic concepts. She was accompanied by Uwe Brandt, Sales Manager for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Sustainable agriculture with Agri-PV

The presentation focussed on the dual use of agricultural land through agrivoltaics (agri-PV). Edith Seemann gave a practical demonstration of how the use of agrivoltaic solutions can sustainably increase yield security in fruit and vegetable cultivation as well as in animal husbandry. She emphasised the following advantages in particular:

- Preservation of agricultural status: Agri-PV preserves the agricultural use of the land, which is essential for many farmers.
- Yield increase and protection: The systems protect against extreme weather conditions such as hail or heavy rainfall, thus ensuring stable crop yields.
- Climate-friendly energy generation: The combined use of agriculture and solar energy contributes to the energy transition and offers an additional source of income.

Dialogue with bank advisors

The presentation provided bank advisors with a valuable basis for supporting farmers in investing in sustainable projects such as agri-PV in the future. ‘The integration of agri-PV into existing farms opens up new perspectives,’ emphasised Edith Seemann. ‘It is an opportunity to combine economic stability and environmental protection.’

Uwe Brandt added that there is great potential for agri-PV in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in particular, with its extensive agricultural land. He presented concrete examples and models of how this could be realised.

Prospects and outlook

The event in Güstrow made it clear that innovative approaches such as agri-PV not only pave the way for sustainable agriculture, but also make an important contribution to the energy transition. The lively discussion and positive feedback from participants emphasised the growing interest in these solutions.

SUNfarming looks forward to continuing to support farmers, investors and consultants with sustainable concepts and working together on resilient, environmentally friendly agriculture.

After an intensive set-up phase, we presented an eye-catching 1:1 Agri-PV installation and an inviting exhibition stand to over 5,200 trade visitors. In around 100 discussions, we were able to convince more than 30 interested farmers, who are active in various cultivation areas such as pasture farming, chickens, soft fruit, pome fruit and also special crops, of the SUNfarming-Agri-Solar concepts. This will now be followed by profitability calculations and qualified offers.

There was enormous interest in our agrivoltaic (agri-PV) concepts, with discussions with trade visitors focussing in particular on the topic of ‘privileged systems’.

Our Agri-PV solutions, which combine sustainable energy production and efficient agriculture, met with great interest. Numerous visitors took the opportunity to find out about the latest innovations and SUNfarming's extensive experience in the field of agri-solar. The great commitment and curiosity of the visitors confirm our mission to positively shape the future of agriculture through sustainable energy solutions.

EuroTier: innovation driver for the agriculture of the future
As the leading trade fair for professional animal husbandry and livestock management, EuroTier offers a comprehensive platform that presents the latest technologies and solutions for the challenges of today and tomorrow. Our goal at SUNfarming is to make our contribution to a more sustainable agriculture and energy industry. We will show how our Agri-PV concepts open up new perspectives, especially for fruit, vegetable and speciality crop cultivation.

Come and visit us!
The trade fair runs until 15 November - visit us in Hall 25, Stand L13 and find out how we can shape the agriculture of the future together. Let's talk about sustainable solutions and strengthen the connection between food and energy.

We look forward to your visit!