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Estimating Heat-Stress Mitigation Under Agrivoltaic Shade

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2026 ASABE Annual International Meeting  2600366.(doi:10.13031/aim.202600366)
Authors:   Minyoung Hong, Farzaneh Khorsandi
Keywords:   Agricultural safety, Agrivoltaics, Heat stress, Microclimate, Occupational heat exposure, Solar radiation, Wet-bulb globe temperature.

Abstract. Heat stress is an increasing occupational risk for outdoor agricultural workers, particularly when work is performed under direct solar radiation and limited shade. Agrivoltaic systems may reduce worker heat exposure by providing shade from photovoltaic panels while maintaining agricultural production. The objective of this study was to quantify the reduction in wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) beneath an agrivoltaic canopy relative to an adjacent open-field reference condition in California. Environmental measurements were collected from June 25 to July 27, 2025, using paired one-minute observations from two shaded stations and one open-field station. WBGT reduction was calculated as the paired difference between open-field WBGT and agrivoltaic WBGT. Across 47,511 paired one-minute observations, agrivoltaic shading reduced WBGT by 1.03 °C on average, with a maximum observed one-minute reduction of 7.90 °C. Mean daytime WBGT reduction from 06:00 to 18:00 was 2.27 °C, and mean reduction during the 12:00 to 16:00 peak heat-stress window was 1.53 °C. The agrivoltaic canopy reduced daytime solar radiation by 590.45 W m⁻², or 92.74%, and reduced globe temperature by 3.69 °C on average, indicating that cooling was primarily associated with reduced radiant heat load. Agrivoltaic shading also reduced exceedance of the 26.7 °C moderate-work action limit by 84.85 h, or 43.02%. These findings suggest that agrivoltaic canopies can provide measurable occupational heat-stress mitigation in agricultural environments, although future studies should use height-matched replicated reference stations to isolate shading effects more fully.

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