Organic farm in Switzerland is growing blueberries beneath 5,220 solar panels

In Lovatens, western Switzerland, organic blueberry grower Olivier Pichonnat has faced repeated crop threats: frost, excessive rain, hail and, most recently, drought and heat. Romande Energie installed 5,220 solar panels 10.5 feet above 4.4 acres of blueberries, covering about 4,500 bushes. The elevated structure allows farm machinery, including harvesting equipment, to pass underneath while the land produces electricity and fruit. Switzerland has few comparable agrivoltaic projects because rules generally require panels on farmland to support agriculture or research, and approvals can take years. In the installation’s first summer, conditions under the panels reportedly supported growth four weeks longer than open ground; covered bushes remained healthier and needed no irrigation. The farmer also described the harvest as better, but no crop-yield figures have been released.

The evidence remains preliminary. A separate, vendor-reported Italian blueberry trial showed yields 27% lower under panels in one year and 63% higher in the next, leaving a two-year total just 1% above bushes under hail nets. That variability suggests the panels may function as protection against damaging weather rather than reliably increasing harvests, and results may differ by crop and location. Romande Energie financed the roughly 3-million-franc project, will operate and maintain it for 30 years, and expects annual electricity production of 2,400 megawatt-hours. Pichonnat gains crop protection and another income source, though the contract terms are undisclosed. Several more growing seasons will be needed to establish the installation’s agricultural value.