Energy mass balanceCostingEquipment sizingSolar

Vertical bifacial agrivoltaic PV (east-west rows)

Vertical bifacial PV rows facing east and west between crops: yield from a south reference and bifaciality, row pitch vs machinery, land share kept in farming, LCOE on the Fraunhofer ISE 2024 basis (EUR 2024 real), revenue per hectare and the market-value uplift of the off-midday profile.

Open Jack

Founder · OpenJack

Add to project

CurrencyEUR 2024
Battery limitfully financed
88 documented assumptions
Updated27 Oct 2026

Mass and energy balance

What the asset draws and delivers for the case and load you choose.

Reference case

Site yield of a south-facing fixed-tilt reference

Annual specific yield a standard south-facing fixed-tilt plant would reach on this site (kWh per kWp per year, from your PVGIS/PVsyst run). Default 1,014 kWh/kWp: enervis for Next2Sun (2023), northern Bavaria, GHI 1,126 kWh/m2. Victoria et al. model 1,048 kWh/kW for Denmark (56.5 N). The vertical yield is derived from this figure.

Flows

Annual quantities at the current usage. Band width: share of energy in; non-energy flows are not to scale.

Installed capacity (DC)

Peak DC capacity of the vertical bifacial rows (front-side STC rating); the catalog's dc_ac_ratio carries the DC/AC gap. Binds to the installed_capacity field (MW) of catalog ground-mounted PV plants. Default 8 MW: Thuenen's 20 ha reference plant at 400 kWp/ha. The specific investment follows Thuenen's economy-of-scale curve for vertical agri-PV (exponent 0.864, read over 1-80 ha), so the LCOE falls with size. The slider covers 4-30 MW, about 10-75 ha at 0.4 MW/ha: below 10 ha Thuenen's own LCOE bars rise faster than this CAPEX-only law, so smaller plants are refused. Fixed O&M stays linear in kW.

Plant land area: — ha
Total row length: — km
Annual energy (first year): — MWh/year
Average electrical output: — MW

CAPEX

Specific cost at this size, what backs it, and how it behaves with scale.

Specific CAPEX at this size

—

Reference size 8 MW

Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read and fitted)

CAPEX source

Model value: the reference case's specific investment, scaled to the plant size by Thuenen's curve. Customized: the value below is used as entered, at every plant size, and is no longer a sourced figure. Fixed O&M stays the model value (EUR/kW/year) in both modes.

Specific investment retained by installed capacity (DC)

Ex-factory
Installed
Fully financed· this figure

CAPEX at the battery limit—

Included

Equipment and installation
Indirect and owner's costs
Contingency

Not included

Nothing

Added at project level

Nothing: project mode uses the figure as is

Project figures

Values passed to project mode when this asset is added to a project.

Vertical bifacial agrivoltaic PV plant (east-west rows)Concept sketch, not to scale · drag to rotate

Electricity (DC-rated plant output) outMain product: —
CAPEX to the battery limit: —
Fixed O&M: —
Variable O&M, excluding feedstocks: 0 EUR/year
Asset lifetime: 30 years

Levelised cost of electricity

A standalone indicator for a quick read. Project mode recomputes it for the whole system.

—

LCOE - capital component—
LCOE - O&M component—

Linked to the balance above

Site yield of a south-facing fixed-tilt reference

Vertical-to-south yield ratio (at bifaciality 0.8)

Yield of the vertical east-west rows divided by the south-facing reference on the same site, for modules of bifaciality 0.8. Three published anchors: Victoria et al. (2024) 0.87 (914 against 1,048 kWh/kW, Denmark, modelled, bifaciality 0.8); Thuenen (2024) 1.00 (0.4 GWh/ha for 400 kWp/ha vertical against 1.1 GWh/ha for 1,100 kWp/ha ground PV, eastern Germany); enervis for Next2Sun (2023) 1.04 (1,057 against 1,014 MWh/MWp, Bavaria, manufacturer-commissioned). They do not converge, so the cautious independent value 0.87 is the default. The ratio is defined at bifaciality 0.8: pairing 1.04 with a high bifaciality factor may count the rear-side gain twice.

Module bifaciality factor

Rear-to-front efficiency ratio of the modules. Kiwa PVEL 2024 averages: PERC 0.693, TOPCon 0.754, HJT 0.867; Next2Sun states 0.90-0.93 for its own modules (manufacturer claim). Default 0.8 is the value of Victoria et al. Energy is taken proportional to (1 + bifaciality), because on east-west vertical rows both faces see about the same irradiance over the year.

Row pitch (centre to centre)

Distance between two module rows, which sets the crop strip width. Schueler et al. (IPVC 2025): typically 8-15 m; Victoria et al. use 11 m, Loeffingen 13.5 m. Next2Sun: 10 m gives about 0.4 MW/ha. Valid for rows one module high; 3-module stacks fall outside this calculator.

Open-field crop yield

Yield of the crop grown between the rows on open land, in decitonnes (100 kg) per hectare per year. Default 85 dt/ha: winter wheat (A), yield level II, Landwirtschaftskammer Schleswig-Holstein planning sheet 2024/25.

Crop price

Farm-gate price of the crop, nominal EUR of the 2024/25 marketing year. Default 23.20 EUR/dt: winter wheat (A), LKSH planning sheet 2024/25, which gives a market revenue of 1,972 EUR/ha at 85 dt/ha.

Capture price of the vertical profile

Average market value earned per MWh by the east-west vertical profile, nominal EUR. Default 74.96 EUR/MWh: Next2Sun's own calculation for six vertical plants in Germany, 2026 year to date (Solarserver, 25 Aug 2026). The source says no general conclusion should be drawn from it: replace it with your own market analysis.

Capture price of a south-facing plant

Average market value per MWh of standard (south-facing) solar on the same market and period, nominal EUR. Default 44.43 EUR/MWh: German 'Marktwert Solar' 2026 year to date as computed by Next2Sun from spot prices (Solarserver, 25 Aug 2026). Must cover the same market and period as the vertical capture price.

Levelised cost of electricity by site yield of a south-facing fixed-tilt reference

Benchmarks

This model's figures against published references and reference cases.

Levelised cost of electricity, EUR/MWh

52 Fraunhofer ISE 2024

119 Fraunhofer ISE 2024

Specific yield (vertical east-west), kWh/kWp

914 Victoria et al. 2024

1,000 Thuenen-Institut 2024

1,057 enervis / Next2Sun 2023

Reference cases at this size and usage

All results

Every model output at the current settings, grouped, with the sensitivity charts.

73 outputs · 5 groups · 12 also shown above, dimmed

Land and crop

Capacity density: ComputingMW/ha
Agricultural land share: Computing%
Ground cover ratio: Computingratio
Row length per hectare: Computingm/ha
Land taken out of cultivation: Computing%
Land loss inside published range: Computingbool
Uncultivated strip per row: Computingm
Widest implement between rows: Computingm
Light available to the crop: Computing%
Energy per hectare: ComputingMWh/ha/year
Plant area per annual MWh: Computingm2/MWh
Farmland consumed per annual MWh: Computingm2/MWh
Open-field crop revenue: ComputingEUR/ha/year
Crop revenue retained: Computing%
Crop harvested per plant hectare: Computingdt/ha
Crop revenue per hectare: ComputingEUR/ha/year
Annual crop harvest: Computingt/year
Annual crop revenue: ComputingEUR/year

Costs

Levelised cost of electricity: ComputingEUR/MWh
LCOE - capital component: ComputingEUR/MWh
LCOE - O&M component: ComputingEUR/MWh
Case specific investment at 8 MW: ComputingEUR/kW
Plant-size factor on specific investment: Computingratio
Model specific investment at this size: ComputingEUR/kW
Specific investment retained: ComputingEUR/kW
Standard ground PV investment, same land area: ComputingEUR/kW
CAPEX premium over standard ground PV: Computing%
Investment inside ISE agri-PV range (0.5-2 MWp class): Computingbool
Fixed O&M per kW: ComputingEUR/kW/year
Total investment: ComputingEUR
Total investment (MEUR): ComputingMEUR
Investment per hectare: ComputingEUR/ha
Capital recovery factor: Computing1/year
Annualised CAPEX: ComputingEUR/year
Fixed O&M per year: ComputingEUR/year
Degradation levelisation factor: Computingratio
Levelised annual energy: ComputingMWh/year
LCOE at ISE agri-PV low CAPEX: ComputingEUR/MWh
LCOE at ISE agri-PV high CAPEX: ComputingEUR/MWh
LCOE gap to ISE ground-PV maximum: ComputingEUR/MWh
LCOE inside ISE agri-PV range: Computingbool

Market value and revenue

Capture price against south-facing solar: Computing%
Market-value uplift of the off-midday profile: Computing%
Value-adjusted margin: ComputingEUR/MWh
Electricity revenue (first year): ComputingEUR/year
Revenue of a south-facing plant of same kWp: ComputingEUR/year
Revenue against a south-facing plant: Computing%
Electricity revenue per hectare: ComputingEUR/ha/year
Total revenue per hectare: ComputingEUR/ha/year
Electricity share of revenue per hectare: Computing%

Other

Annual energy (first year): ComputingMWh/year
Average electrical output: ComputingMW
Plant land area: Computingha
Total row length: Computingkm

Sensitivities

7 charts

LCOE breakdown vs site yield

Specific investment and LCOE vs plant size

LCOE and value-adjusted margin vs site yield

Specific yield vs bifaciality

Land share and crop light vs row pitch

Capacity density vs row pitch

Revenue per hectare vs vertical capture price

Sources

88 documented assumptions · 11 sources

About

Calculator context

Screens a vertical agrivoltaic plant: bifacial modules mounted upright in rows facing east and west, with crops or grassland farmed between the rows. Distinct from elevated agri-PV above crops (calculator #441).

Yield. The vertical yield is derived from the yield a south-facing fixed-tilt plant would reach on the site, times a vertical-to-south ratio measured at bifaciality 0.8, times (1 + bifaciality)/(1 + 0.8), times a row-pitch shading correction. The default ratio is the independent one of Victoria et al. (0.87, Denmark); a manufacturer-commissioned study (enervis for Next2Sun, Bavaria) prints 1.04. The two do not converge and the calculator does not hide it: the ratio is an input from 0.87 to 1.04. At the defaults (1,014 kWh/kWp south, 0.87, bifaciality 0.8, 10 m pitch) the vertical rows yield 879.8 kWh/kWp, 86.8 % of a south-facing plant. Combinations whose derived yield leaves 800-1,150 kWh/kWp are refused as outside the calibrated domain.

Land and crop. 0.4 kWp per row metre (Next2Sun, Thuenen) gives 0.4 MW/ha at 10 m; a 0.2 m row plus 0.5 m machinery clearance on each side leaves 88 % of the area in farming, inside the published 10-15 % land losses. Crop revenue uses the open-field yield and price (default winter wheat, LKSH 2024/25) times the land share; the yield per cultivated hectare between rows is held at the open-field level (Victoria et al.), since Thuenen finds farming irrelevant to the plant's profitability.

Cost. LCOE follows Fraunhofer ISE's 2024 annuity method in EUR 2024 real, excluding VAT, with ISE's agri-PV financial basis held fixed (3.5 % real WACC, 30 years, 0.25 %/year degradation) so the result reads against ISE's published range; your own financing applies in project mode. Two cited cost cases: Thuenen 2024 vertical agri-PV (default, 680 EUR/kWp at 20 ha, i.e. 8 MW, with 15 EUR/kW/year O&M borrowed from ISE) and ISE 2024 agri-PV high (1,700 EUR/kW for the generic 0.5-2 MWp class, carried to 8 MW by the scale law: 1,281 EUR/kW). The specific investment follows Thuenen's economy-of-scale curve for vertical agri-PV (exponent 0.864, read on the chart over 1-80 ha), so the plant size runs from 4 to 30 MW (about 10-75 ha). Thuenen case: 60.9 EUR/MWh at 8 MW, 65.1 at 4 MW, 53.7 at 30 MW; ISE high case: 99.1 EUR/MWh at 8 MW, 107.2 at 4 MW. Only CAPEX scales with size and O&M stays linear in kW; Thuenen's own LCOE bars (read on the chart) climb much faster below 10 ha (about 135 EUR/MWh at 1 ha), so smaller plants are refused rather than understated. A Customized option uses your own quote as entered, at every size; O&M stays the model value.

Market value. The east-west profile produces in the morning and evening, off the midday solar peak. The default capture prices (74.96 against 44.43 EUR/MWh, Germany 2026 to date, nominal) are the manufacturer's own calculation on six plants and must be replaced. They give a +68.7 % uplift and 28,116 EUR/ha of revenue (electricity at the 2026 price plus crop at the 2024/25 price, not indexed to one year). The value-adjusted margin compares a 2026 nominal price with a 2024 real cost and is indicative only.

Model

166 variables — inputs, calculations and outputs, with their dependencies.

166 variables shown of 166

Value	Unit	Depends on
8	MW	—
1014	kWh/kWp	—
0.87	ratio	—
0.8	ratio	—
10	m	—
85	dt/ha	—
23.2	EUR/dt	—
1	—	—
0	—	—
680	EUR/kW	—
74.96	EUR/MWh	—
44.43	EUR/MWh	—

Variable	Formula	Unit	Depends on
	`if((<)+(>)+(<=)+(<=)+(<)+(>)+(<)+(>)+(<)+(<)+(<)+(>)+(<)+(>)+(>=)((<)+(>))+(<=)+(<=)+((*(+)/(+)(-*/max(,))/max(-,))<)+((*(+)/(+)(-*/max(,))/max(-,))>)>,,)`	bool
	`*`	m
	`*`	kW
	`*`	1/year
	`**/`	kWp/m
	`*`	ratio
	`(-)/(+)`	ratio
	`if(-<,,(-^)/max((+)*(-),))`	year
	`**`	MWh/year

Variable	Formula	Unit	Depends on
	`(+)/(+)`	ratio
	`**`	kWh/kWp
	`/max(,)`	ratio
	`*/max(,)`	%
	`(-)/max(-,)`	ratio
	`*`	kWh/kWp
		h/year
	`/*`	%
	`/max(,)*`	%
	`/max(,)`	ratio
	`/max(,)`	ratio
	`/max(,)`	ratio
	`*(+)/(+)*`	kWh/kWp
	`*(+)/(+)*`	kWh/kWp
	`*(+)/(+)*`	kWh/kWp
	`if((>=)(<=*),,)`	bool
	`**`	MWh/year
	`*/max(-,)`	MWh/year
	`*(-)^(-)`	MWh/year
	`if(<,,(-(-)^)/max(,))`	MWh
	`/max(,)`	MWh/year
	`/`	MW
	`/max(,)`	m/ha
	`*/`	MW/ha
	`/max(,)`	ha
	`*/`	km
	`+*`	m
	`-`	m
	`(-/max(,))*`	%
	`-`	%
	`if((>=)*(<=),,)`	bool
	`+(-)*(-)/max(-,)`	%
	`***`	MWh/ha/year
	`/max(,)`	m2/MWh
	`**/max(,)`	m2/MWh
	`*`	EUR/ha/year
	`**`	%
	`**`	dt/ha
	`**`	EUR/ha/year
	`**`	t/year
	`*`	EUR/year
	`if(==,*(/)^(-),)`	EUR/kW
	`clamp((/)^(-),,)`	ratio
	`*`	EUR/kW
	`if(>=,,)`	EUR/kW
	`*clamp((/)^(-),,)`	EUR/kW
	`(/max(,)-)*`	%
	`if((>=)*(<=),,)`	bool
	`*`	EUR
	`/`	MEUR
	`/max(,)`	EUR/ha
	`if(<,/max(,),(*(+)^)/max((+)^-,))`	1/year
		EUR/kW/year
	`*`	EUR/year
	`*`	EUR/year
	`*`	ratio
	`*`	MWh/year
	`(+)/max(,)`	EUR/MWh
	`/max(,)`	EUR/MWh
	`/max(,)`	EUR/MWh
	`if((>=)*(<=),,)`	bool
	`-`	EUR/MWh
	`(+)/max(*,)`	EUR/MWh
	`(+)/max(*,)`	EUR/MWh
	`/max(,)*`	%
	`-`	%
	`*`	EUR/year
	`*`	EUR/year
	`/max(,)*`	%
	`*`	EUR/ha/year
	`+`	EUR/ha/year
	`/max(,)*`	%
	`-`	EUR/MWh

Assumptions

88 assumptions used in the calculations

Protects divisions against a zero denominator; small enough to leave every result unchanged.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
0.000001
Numerical constant
Used in guards and flags so no number is written inline.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
0
Numerical constant
Used in the CRF, ratios and flags.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
1
Numerical constant
Converts fractions to percent.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
100%
Numerical constant
Converts percent inputs to fractions.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
0.01
Numerical constant
Converts annual energy to average hourly power for the project-mode electricity outlet.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
8760h/year
Numerical constant
MW to kW.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
1000kW/MW
Numerical constant
kWh to MWh.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
0.001MWh/kWh
Numerical constant
Row metres per hectare and land use per MWh.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
10000m2/ha
Numerical constant
Total row length in km.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
1000m/km
Numerical constant
CAPEX display in MEUR.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
1000000EUR/MEUR
Numerical constant
Converts the crop harvest from dt to t.
Market range Not applicable (numerical or unit constant).
0.1t/dt
Numerical constant
The uncultivated strip is the structure depth plus one clearance on each side of a row.
Market range Not applicable (count).
2
Geometry
Specific investment of the default reference case (case_thuenen_2024_vertical) at the reference size of 8 MW (20 ha x 400 kWp/ha), taken as all-in (fully_financed): the slides do not print what 'Spez. Invest.' includes, so no installation or owner's factor is added and the scope is a stated assumption. Price base: the slides (22.10.2024) do not print the euro year and cite Boehm et al. (2022b) for the method; the figure is used as EUR 2024 without indexation. If it is in 2022 euros it is understated by the 2022-2024 inflation (not applied here).
Market range Thuenen 2024 vertical at 20 ha: 680 EUR/kWp; ISE 2024 agri-PV (0.5-2 MWp, mostly elevated): 900-1,700 EUR/kW.
680EUR/kW
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Low end of the ISE agri-PV CAPEX range (0.5-2 MWp); used for the 'inside ISE range' flag and the LCOE at ISE low CAPEX.
Market range ISE 2024 agri-PV: 900-1,700 EUR/kW.
900EUR/kW
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
High end of the ISE agri-PV CAPEX range (0.5-2 MWp): CAPEX of the ISE reference case (carried to 8 MW by the scale law), upper bound of the Customized CAPEX, 'inside ISE range' flag and LCOE at ISE high CAPEX.
Market range ISE 2024 agri-PV: 900-1,700 EUR/kW.
1700EUR/kW
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Thuenen standard ground PV at 20 ha, scaled to this plant's land area by the PV-FFA curve of the same slide, as the comparator of the CAPEX premium; also the floor of the Customized CAPEX.
Market range ISE 2024 ground PV: 700-900 EUR/kW (different scope and size class, not used here).
520EUR/kW
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Specific investment = case value at 8 MW x (size / 8 MW)^(0.864 - 1), clamped to the curve's own 1 ha and 80 ha readings. The scale law is taken on area (ha) in the source and applied on MW at the reference density of 400 kWp/ha; at another row pitch the same MW covers a different area, a second-order effect not modelled.
Market range No second source for vertical agri-PV; Thuenen's ground PV curve on the same slide gives 0.874.
0.864
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read and fitted)
Reference size of the scale law: the specific investment equals the case value exactly at 8 MW.
Market range Not applicable (reference size).
8MW
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Floor of the size factor: the curve's 80 ha value relative to its 20 ha value (608/734). Reached above 32 MW only, outside the 4-30 MW slider: it never binds inside the declared domain.
Market range Not applicable (guard).
0.828ratio
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read)
Ceiling of the size factor: the curve's 1 ha value relative to its 20 ha value (1 103/734). Kept as a guard only: the slider starts at 4 MW (factor 1.099), so it never binds inside the declared domain.
Market range Not applicable (guard).
1.502ratio
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read)
Scales Thuenen's 520 EUR/kWp ground PV figure to the land area of this plant, so the CAPEX premium compares both concepts on the same area.
Market range No second source.
0.874
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read and fitted)
Floor of the ground-PV size factor (80 ha end of the curve).
Market range Not applicable (guard).
0.839ratio
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read)
Ceiling of the ground-PV size factor (1 ha end of the curve).
Market range Not applicable (guard).
1.457ratio
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (chart read)
Below this size the calculator is refused as invalid input. Only CAPEX scales with size here (exponent 0.864); O&M and every other cost stay linear in kW. Thuenen's own LCOE bars for AV vertikal (slide 16, PDF p.17, Standort Osten, read on the chart, not printed: about 13.5 ct/kWh at 1 ha, 7.3 at 5 ha, 5.3 at 20 ha) rise much faster below 10 ha than such a CAPEX-only law, so the model would understate the LCOE of small plants. It is therefore limited to 10-80 ha of Thuenen's study sizes (modelling choice); the slider starts at 4 MW.
Market range Not applicable (domain).
4MW
Thuenen-Institut 2024 (domain choice)
Above this size the scale law has no source: refused as invalid input. The slider stops at 30 MW.
Market range Not applicable (domain).
32MW
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Case 1: Thuenen 2024 vertical agri-PV, 680 EUR/kWp at 20 ha (8 MW) with ISE 2024 O&M (borrowed).
Market range Not applicable (identifier).
1
Model identifier
Case 2: Fraunhofer ISE 2024 agri-PV high, 1,700 EUR/kW at 0.5-2 MWp with ISE O&M, carried to 8 MW by the scale law.
Market range Not applicable (identifier).
2
Model identifier
Default case: Thuenen 2024 vertical, the only source that prints a CAPEX for vertical agri-PV.
Market range Not applicable (selector).
1
Model choice
Size at which the ISE agri-PV figure is placed before the Thuenen scale law carries it to 8 MW (1,700 x 8^-0.136 = 1,281 EUR/kW). ISE itself notes that larger plants cost correspondingly less ('Investitionskosten größerer Anlagen sind dementsprechend geringer') but prints no slope.
Market range ISE class 0.5-2 MWp.
1MW
Fraunhofer ISE 2024 (midpoint derived)
Model value by default; Customized replaces the specific investment by the user's quote at every size.
Market range Not applicable (selector).
0
Model choice
Default of the customized specific investment (EUR 2024, excl. VAT).
Market range
680EUR/kW
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Lower bound of the customized specific investment.
Market range Not applicable (bound).
520EUR/kW
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Upper bound of the customized specific investment.
Market range ISE 2024 agri-PV: 900-1,700 EUR/kW.
1700EUR/kW
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Third published anchor of the vertical yield, placed as a benchmark next to the modelled specific yield.
Market range Victoria 914, enervis 1,057 kWh/kWp (other sites).
1000kWh/kWp
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Denominator of the Thuenen vertical-to-ground ratio.
Market range Victoria 1,048, enervis 1,014 kWh/kWp (other sites).
1000kWh/kWp
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Reference area of both Thuenen anchors (680 vertical, 520 ground PV); used to scale the ground-PV comparator to this plant's land area.
Market range Not applicable (reference size).
20ha
Thuenen-Institut 2024
Analysis period of the LCOE and lifetime exported to project mode.
Market range ISE 2024 uses 30 years for every PV class; no independent range cited.
30year
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Real discount rate of the annuity. Fixed so the LCOE reads against ISE's published agri-PV range; your own financing is applied in project mode, which discounts the exported CAPEX, O&M and electricity at the project rate.
Market range ISE 2024 agri-PV: 3.5 % real / 5.3 % nominal.
3.5%
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Degrades the yield in the discounted energy sum and in the lifetime-average energy exported to project mode.
Market range ISE 2024: 0.25 %/year for all PV classes; no independent range cited.
0.25%/year
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Low end of the ISE agri-PV LCOE range (flag).
Market range ISE 2024 agri-PV: 52-119 EUR/MWh.
52EUR/MWh
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
High end of the ISE agri-PV LCOE range (flag).
Market range ISE 2024 agri-PV: 52-119 EUR/MWh.
119EUR/MWh
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Floor of the LCOE bound and reference for the ground-PV comparison.
Market range ISE 2024 ground PV: 41-69 EUR/MWh.
41EUR/MWh
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Reference of the 'gap to ISE ground PV maximum' output.
Market range ISE 2024 ground PV: 41-69 EUR/MWh.
69EUR/MWh
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Default of the site south-reference yield input (input, not constant).
Market range
1014kWh/kWp
enervis / Next2Sun 2023
Kept as a separate constant so the enervis ratio does not move with the user's site input.
Market range Single site value; no range.
1014kWh/kWp
enervis / Next2Sun 2023
Upper anchor of the vertical-to-south ratio slider.
Market range Single site value; no range.
1057kWh/kWp
enervis / Next2Sun 2023
Numerator of the Victoria vertical-to-south ratio.
Market range Single site value; no range.
914kWh/kWp
Victoria et al. 2024
Denominator of the Victoria vertical-to-south ratio.
Market range Single site value; no range.
1048kWh/kWp
Victoria et al. 2024
Default of the ratio input (input, not constant): the cautious independent value.
Market range 0.87 (Victoria, Denmark) to 1.04 (enervis for Next2Sun, Bavaria).
0.87ratio
Victoria et al. 2024
Normalises the bifaciality gain so the ratio input keeps its meaning.
Market range Not applicable (calibration point).
0.8ratio
Victoria et al. 2024
Yield at HJT-average bifaciality (comparison output).
Market range PVEL 2024 averages: PERC 69.3, TOPCon 75.4, HJT 86.7 %.
86.7%
Kiwa PVEL 2024
Yield at TOPCon-average bifaciality (comparison output).
Market range PVEL 2024 averages: PERC 69.3, TOPCon 75.4, HJT 86.7 %.
75.4%
Kiwa PVEL 2024
Yield at PERC-average bifaciality (comparison output).
Market range PVEL 2024 averages: PERC 69.3, TOPCon 75.4, HJT 86.7 %.
69.3%
Kiwa PVEL 2024
Lower edge of the flag 'inside the Next2Sun claim'.
Market range Next2Sun claim: 90-93 %.
90%
Next2Sun FAQ
Top of the bifaciality slider and of the validity guard.
Market range Next2Sun claim: 90-93 %.
93%
Next2Sun FAQ
Reference loss of the row-pitch shading penalty (1.0 at 11 m).
Market range No independent range cited.
2.6%
Victoria et al. 2024
Gives the module stack height (0.206 x 11 m = 2.27 m) and the reference GCR of the shading penalty.
Market range 0.20 (enervis) to 0.206 (Victoria).
0.206ratio
Victoria et al. 2024
Pitch at which the 2.6 % shading loss and GCR 0.206 were obtained.
Market range Schueler: 8-15 m typical.
11m
Victoria et al. 2024
Validity guard: combinations whose derived vertical yield falls below 800 are refused.
Market range Calibrated domain 800-1,150 kWh/kWp.
800kWh/kWp
Derived from Victoria 2024, enervis 2023, ISE 2024
Validity guard: combinations whose derived vertical yield exceeds 1,150 are refused.
Market range Calibrated domain 800-1,150 kWh/kWp.
1150kWh/kWp
Derived from enervis 2023
Bottom of the row-pitch slider and validity guard.
Market range
8m
Schueler et al. 2025
Top of the row-pitch slider and validity guard.
Market range
15m
Schueler et al. 2025
Pitch at which the 0.4 MW/ha density is stated; with it, 0.4 kWp per row metre is derived.
Market range Not applicable (reference point).
10m
Next2Sun FAQ
Gives the installed kWp per row metre (0.4) that scales density with pitch.
Market range
0.4MW/ha
Next2Sun FAQ / Thuenen 2024
One clearance on each side of a row in the uncultivated strip.
Market range No independent range cited.
0.5m
Next2Sun FAQ
Footprint of the row itself in the uncultivated strip.
Market range No independent range cited.
0.2m
Next2Sun FAQ
Lower edge of the published land-loss range (flag).
Market range
10%
Schueler et al. 2025
Upper edge of the published land-loss range (flag).
Market range
15%
Schueler et al. 2025
Light-availability end point at 9 m (informative output, not a crop model).
Market range
75%
Schueler et al. 2025
Light-availability end point at 15 m.
Market range
85%
Schueler et al. 2025
Pitch of the 75 % end point.
Market range
9m
Schueler et al. 2025
Pitch of the 85 % end point.
Market range
15m
Schueler et al. 2025
Reference shown beside the open-field crop revenue; nominal EUR of the 2024/25 marketing year.
Market range Single planning-sheet value; no range.
1972EUR/ha/year
LKSH 2024/25
Kept for the reader who prefers a margin view of the crop: about 49 % of the market revenue at the defaults.
Market range Single planning-sheet value; no range.
958EUR/ha/year
LKSH 2024/25
Constant 100 % (Victoria et al.): crop yield per cultivated hectare between the rows equals the open field. It only affects revenue per hectare; Thuenen (slide 20, PDF p.21): 'Landwirtschaftliche Produktion spielt für die Rentabilität der Anlagen quasi keine Rolle'. Schueler et al. report 111 % for wheat (manufacturer authors), not used.
Market range Schueler et al. 2025: 100-132 % by crop, excluding land losses (not used).
100%
Victoria et al. 2024
Default of the open-field crop yield input.
Market range
85dt/ha
LKSH 2024/25
Default of the crop price input.
Market range
23.2EUR/dt
LKSH 2024/25
Fixed O&M of both reference cases, exported to project mode as costs.opex.fixed. For the Thuenen case it is BORROWED from ISE: the Thuenen slides print no O&M figure (Boehm et al. 2022b not consulted). It stays the model value when the CAPEX is Customized. Inverter replacement is not a separate line: ISE includes it in O&M. Linear in kW: no source gives a size slope for O&M.
Market range No independent range cited.
15EUR/kW/year
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
Default of the vertical capture price input: a market input the user must replace.
Market range No independent German figure cited.
74.96EUR/MWh
Next2Sun via Solarserver 2026
Default of the south capture price input.
Market range No independent figure cited.
44.43EUR/MWh
Next2Sun via Solarserver 2026
LCOE = [I0 + sum O&M_t/(1+i)^t] / [sum E_t/(1+i)^t], i = 3.5 % real, N = 30 years, E_t degraded 0.25 %/year. All costs in EUR 2024 real, excluding VAT.
Market range Not applicable (method).
—
Fraunhofer ISE 2024
specific_yield = south_ref x ratio x (1 + phi)/(1 + 0.8) x shading penalty. The ratio is anchored at phi = 0.8.
Market range Not applicable (method).
—
Victoria et al. 2024
Project-mode outlet = lifetime-average annual energy / 8,760 h (MW, hourly). Project mode applies no degradation of its own, so the undiscounted 30-year average is exported rather than the first-year value.
Market range Not applicable (method).
—
OpenJack modelling choice
The value-adjusted margin (capture price minus LCOE) mixes two price bases and two years; read it as a screening signal, not a bankable spread.
Market range Not applicable (method).
—
OpenJack modelling choice
This calculator covers vertical bifacial rows one module high in east-west orientation on arable land or grassland only.
Market range Not applicable (method).
—
OpenJack scope
Exported: electricity outlet (MW, hourly), all-in CAPEX (fully financed), fixed O&M, land area. Project mode applies its own WACC and prices.
Market range Not applicable (method).
—
OpenJack scope
Not modelled: inverter replacement as a separate line (ISE counts it in O&M, so the LCOE has no replacement component); any plant-size effect on O&M (no source gives a slope: fixed O&M stays linear in kW); the effect of row pitch on the area-based scale law; plants below 4 MW (under 10 ha, where Thuenen's LCOE bars rise faster than a CAPEX-only scale law) or above 32 MW (above Thuenen's 80 ha study size); crop yield between rows other than the open-field yield (Schueler et al. report 111 % for wheat; Thuenen finds farming irrelevant to profitability); 3-module-high stacks; curtailment, taxes and construction period.
Market range Not applicable (scope).
—
Model limits