Food & Energy

8
Feb

SUNfarming Agri-Solar in Turkey

The SUNfarming Agri-Solar system is also recognised internationally for its innovative approach to dual land use.

Here is a video in Arabic with English subtitles, clearly explained in informative pictures. The combination of sheep farming, herb and vegetable cultivation together with solar energy production on the same land is a sustainable and efficient use of resources. Such integrated approaches help to optimise the use of agricultural land and produce clean energy at the same time.

13
Jul

SUNfarming Food & Energy Training Centre in Mauritius

Another SUNfarming Food & Energy Training Centre will open in Gros Cailloux in August 2023.

SUNfarming Africa’s project has been implemented as part of the National Scheme for Emerging/Innovative Renewable Energy Technologies (NSEIRET) by the MARENA, Mauritius Renewable Energy Authority.
The goal is to build an agrivoltaic “Food & Energy Research and Training Centre” with an allocated capacity of 200 kWp over an area of 4500 m2 at Gros Cailloux.

An agrivoltaic project, which SUNfarming calls “Food & Energy”, combines high quality photovoltaic electricity generation and food production facilities (bio-horticulture and vegetable production by drip irrigation).

SUNfarming has designed special Food & Energy systems, made in Germany, that enable the cultivation of plants underneath solar panels, which will be installed at Gros Cailloux. This unique plant will be used as a research and training platform in cooperation with local partners in the field of modern agriculture and solar renewable energy.

SUNfarming has installed the agrivoltaic pilot plant of 200 kWp that is currently being commissioned with the CEB. Grid connection is expected to be done by the end of July 2023.

17
Dec

FEED in 2022: Vitality Porridge for 100,000 children and their parents

Food, Education, Energy & Development e.V. helps children and women in South Africa to grow food sustainably and teaches them to value water and recycling

In the second year after the foundation of the non-profit organisation FEED in Hamburg as well as its sister NGO FEED South Africa NPC in South Africa, the organisation has expanded and developed its sustainable projects: The fight against malnutrition of children in schools and kindergartens is still very much in the foreground. To this end, the SUNfarming Food & Energy facility in Potchefstroom in the North-West Province of South Africa trains children in the cultivation of fruit, vegetables and also medicinal herbs, which in turn are mixed into a Vitality Porridge to offer the children a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals that supports healthy development and provides energy for active participation in school lessons.

In 2022 alone, FEED has been able to provide balanced nutrition to 15,327 children at 38 schools and nurseries and 83,000 family members within a 200km radius of Potchefstroom through funds raised by private donors and integrated into the DEG project led by SUNfarming. .

After two years, the school headmasters confirm a significantly increased presence of the children in class as well as more active cooperation of the children and thus better school results. Together with the partners, FEED has thus been able to create the basis for many children to receive a good basic education at school and a strong foundation for their further educational and hopefully professional path.
Furthermore, within the framework of new training measures in sustainable agriculture for socially weak people and inhabitants of the townships around Potchefstroom, 30 women in particular were newly trained and accompanied by FEED. These women live in remote regions, mostly without a job or other income, with their families and often several children. The gardening training introduces them to the cultivation of food for their own consumption, with the aim of gradually training them to become farmers who can earn money together as cooperatives by selling their products.


In total, FEED and the DEG project provided sustainable support to 674 women in 2022.

The FEED Team Germany and South Africa would like to thank all donors for supporting these important and holistic development aid projects. Please continue to support us!FEED

9
Dec

SUNfarming’s sustainable commitment in Africa

In June 2022 the first training took place in the research project YESPVNIGBEN in Nigeria, which was realised by SUNfarming. The systems planned and commissioned by SUNfarming include an agri-solar system, a ground-mounted system, PV test stands, a charging station for e-mobility and a SUNhome.

The plants are spread over five sites, each equipped with a battery storage system and separate circuit for independent and reliable power supply of the main consumers, e.g. for medical care centre. The plants were built at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka and at the Centre for Atmospheric Research - National Space Research and Development Agency (CAR - NASRDA) in Abuja.

The YESPVNIGBEN research project is led by Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and funded by BAMF. On behalf of Forschungszentrum Jülich, SUNfarming has installed the training and research facilities as dual-use concepts "Food & Energy".

In addition to supplying energy, the facilities are used for research purposes. Professors at the university report: "Unfortunately, there is no proper electricity supply in Nsukka and the rest of the country. There are frequent power outages. The duration of the outages varies, sometimes it takes days. This is why obtaining important scientific data, in addition to the supply of electricity, is so important."
Other areas of research include
- Light transmission of the modules and effects on the cultivation of vegetables and herbs
- Temperature of the modules in connection with performance and service life
- A weather station measures the environmental parameters, the data is analysed online

All systems were assembled by local teams under the guidance of SUNfarming engineers. Necessary further assembly, repair and maintenance work will be carried out independently by these trained local employees in the future. Support from Germany is guaranteed at all times. To ensure operational safety, the entire system will be evaluated via a digital monitoring platform.

26
Jan

SUNfarming Eco- and Agri-Solar Parks with Double Added Value for the Energy Turnaround

SUNfarming continues to set the course and focus on biodiversity solar parks.

With the two concepts "Eco-Solar" and "Agri-Solar", SUNfarming has set the course for project planning for solar parks on former agricultural land in 2021. "With our dual-use concept for open-space plants, we can significantly expand the biodiversity of the land in addition to producing green electricity," says SUNfarming Group CEO Thies Schrum.

The SUNfarming Eco- and Agri-Solar Systems have clear unique selling points due to bifacial glass-glass modules, an elevated substructure and a specifically developed rainwater distribution system. The dual-use concepts offered have been refined for years in some cases with sheep, bee and poultry farming (eco-solar) as well as vegetable and medicinal herb cultivation (agri-solar). "We have further developed our Food&Energy system from abroad over the years and adapted it to the German market and have thus not only created a space under the modules, but also very concrete concepts whose feasibility we have already proven. This is a huge advantage," continues Thies Schrum, CEO of the SUNfarming Group.

SUNfarming already has several hundred hectares of eco- and agri-solar plants in approval procedures in Germany and plans to roll out the concept further. "We want to make a decisive contribution to the energy transition with this and see ourselves very well positioned to do so," concludes Schrum.

27
Dec

1000 horticultural courses and 15 vegetable school gardens in 2021

Our training and food aid project in South Africa appears to be particularly valuable and important to us this year. Pictures often say more than words. Take five minutes to watch two very impressive project videos.



„Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let us all come back together in 2022 and keep on changing people´s lives.“ wishes Melanie Jooste, Team Leader SUNfarming South Africa.
The whole SUNfarming team agrees with this wish.