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The system development team of the SUNfarming group, which develops all photovoltaic system concepts and substructures of SUNfarming itself, had already developed the research systems on behalf of the Fraunhofer ISE Institute and the Project Management Organisation Jülich in Alt-Morschenich, among others.

For the development of the floating solar plant for the gravel plant in Kaphof/Hückelhoven, the plant development team worked together with plant constructors from the submarine and shipbuilding industries, among others.

The SUNfarming floating solar system was designed to have the most positive effect possible on the ecology of the water, water evaporation is reduced, the oxygen content for flora and fauna in the artificial water is positively influenced and no pollutants are released into the water. The life span of the floating solar system is at least 40 years. The green electricity generated almost completely covers the gravel plant's own electricity needs at the site.

Yvonne Hensing & Nicole Quadflieg – Management of Kieswerk Laprell Kaphof GmbH & Co. KG
"As an electricity-intensive company, we have been looking at the possibilities that floating PV offers our company for a long time. Our motivation was the sustainable reduction of the carbon dioxide footprint of our high-quality produced building materials as well as the long-term stabilization of our electricity costs. The idea developed together with SUNfarming and the innovative solution offered convinced us. A phase of about one and a half years with a test plant went successfully without any problems e.g. during storms. During the whole project and construction phase SUNfarming convinced us with professionalism, innovative spirit and perfect communication."

Prof. Dr Volker Quaschning is Professor of Renewable Energy Systems at HTW-Berlin. Expert on renewable energies, energy transition, climate protection and book author, LinkedIn top voice with over 160,000 followers in social media. With regular new content on climate change and energy policy topics, he puts current debates into a scientific context. Among other things, the Solar Storage Systems Research Group (https://solar.htw-berlin.de/) is working on an electricity storage inspection and the development of a key figure to evaluate the energy efficiency of PV storage systems.
During a joint tour with Michael Bleiker, the plant manager in Rathenow, the research facilities were presented with first exciting insights. Special interest was shown in the various plant cultures that SUNfarming successfully cultivates under special self-developed Agri-PV systems. Richard Rose and Marek Enzenbach presented the ongoing research project "PV cooling mat" to increase the efficiency of a PV system by means of surface cooling mats in combination with an underground storage tank.

Afterwards, general topics around current and future research projects such as agro-robotics, aquaponic systems and battery systems for the future (base load supply, PPA contracts, balancing energy) were discussed.
The HTW will conduct an interview with a SUNfarming employee about the planning of PV ground-mounted systems. The findings from this interview will be integrated into the study content of the HTW-Berlin, including area design, EEG basic rules, height problems in construction and shading analysis.
Together with Prof. Dr Volker Quaschning, SUNfarming will develop and offer several final thesis topics

After the welcome by Peter Schrum, Founder and Shareholder of the SUNfarming Group, a tour followed with Mr. Schrum and Michael Bleiker, the plant manager in Rathenow, to present the research facilities with first exciting insights. After a snack, which included self-harvested raspberries, various presentations followed.

Arndt Lahmann, Junior Project Consultant Agri-Solar at SUNfarming, started the series of lectures with the presentation of the SUNfarming Group and the developed agri-solar concepts on grassland, agricultural and set-aside areas as well as for the moor solar concept for the coupling of the expansion of renewable energies and climate protection/CO2 reduction through the rewetting of agriculturally used, drained moor soils. Interesting details were presented on the preservation of the agricultural status of soils through agri-solar systems in accordance with DIN SPEC Standard 91434 "Agri-Photovoltaics" and the latest amendment to the German Building Code.

Torsten Holler, Managing Director of Agricultural Service-, Trading and Consulting Company, then went into the possible combinations of an agri-solar system with the guidelines of the renewed Common Agricultural Policy 2023 (CAP). The focus was on the standards of the good agricultural and ecological condition of the land (GAEC). Among these, the combination of the set-aside obligation according to GAEC 8 with agri-photovoltaics was particularly addressed, which, according to the PV strategy of the BMWK, is to be made possible in the subsequent solar package in May 2023. The EEG amendment was also discussed.

Following the series of lectures, there was a lively exchange between the speakers and the very interested guests, with many exciting questions being discussed.

More than 25 farmers and various personalities from the region came together to get first-hand information about the latest developments in the field of Agri-Photovoltaics, dual use of agricultural land and moor PV solutions.
Managing Director of Friedländer Landhandels- und Dienste GmbH Mr Jürgen Ströde warmly welcomed the guests to the lecture event. Founder and main shareholder of the SUNfarming Group Mr. Peter Schrum introduced the topic and handed over to BRM President/Managing Director of Project Development at SUNfarming Edith Brasche.
After the seminar, there was a Q&A session where the many exciting questions were clarified.
At the end of the event, the audience was able to visit an Agri-PV pilot plant that SUNfarming has installed on site.
We would like to thank the visitors for their great interest and participation in the event.

Advancing economic and climate policy interests at the same time was the goal of Economics Minister Habeck and Agriculture Minister Özdemir in South America. The first stop on the six-day trip was Brazil.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir travelled to South America for six days - according to the Economics Ministry, primarily to intensify economic relations and climate cooperation with Brazil and Colombia.
Habeck announced his intention to build "green value chains for more prosperity and climate protection". The free trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur states is also to be discussed.
The governments of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro "are committed to tackling the climate crisis and illegal deforestation and are consistently advancing decarbonisation", Habeck said. "We want to use this momentum to face the global challenges together as democracies and jointly build green value chains across the Atlantic for greater prosperity and climate protection."
"Brazil and Colombia, with their renewable energy potentials and significant raw material deposits, play a key role in global climate protection and the transformation of our economies towards green, sustainable models," Habeck further announced.

After a year of development and pilot phase for SUNfarming's first self-developed floating PV system, which is now being realised, the total of 143 pontoons of the 750 kWp solar system are currently being installed on the gravel lake of Kieswerke Laprell KaphofGmbH & Co KG. Beforehand, concrete foundations for the anchoring of the floating PV system had already been brought to the bottom of the lake at a depth of about 10 metres. A total of 1,716 bifacial glass-glass modules, 4 inverters and 1 transformer will supply the gravel plant with its own electricity and thus contribute significantly to the customer's energy cost reduction and CO2 neutrality. A total of 16 assemblers and 2 site managers will set up the system on site in about 10 weeks, and the grid connection is scheduled to take place in April.
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