Factors Influencing the Willingness to Use Agrivoltaics in Developing Countries with Tropical Climate – an Indonesian Perspective
Transition from fossil fuel-based to renewable energy sources could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints, which is critical in the fight against climate change. Considering Indonesia’s abundant natural resources, especially renewable energy sources, the country possesses substantial potential to achieve a successful energy transition. Solar photovoltaic (PV) emerges as the renewable energy source with the greatest potential in Indonesia. However, solar PV farm development requires large areas of land, which could potentially compete with agriculture because both require large open flat land areas with high sunlight intensity, low or moderate wind, and easy access to water. This research aims to identify the supporting factors for agrivoltaics success and design the most efficient strategy for Indonesia’s unique conditions (climate, geographic, economic, social, etc.). Through a comparative study of supporting factors and agrivoltaics designs around the world, involving various stakeholders in Indonesia, including national energy policy makers, the national PV technology council, and local PV industry players, this research produces 14 supporting factors ranked based on the paired comparison method. The results show that in the Indonesian context, quality was the most important factor to be considered, followed by production results, physical protection and regulation/policy. The third and fourth factors reflect Indonesia’s unique challenges as a developing economy with often frequent/unpredictable regulatory/policy changes that have the potential to impact PV projects, including agrivoltaics. The results of this research encourage the implementation of agrivoltaics rooftop canopy designs as the most suitable solution to support the sustainability of agrivoltaics systems in Indonesia in the future.
Authors:
Sri Wahyu Nensi, Fitya Syarifa Mozar, Christian Harito, Bens Pardamean, Endang Djuana, Derrick Speaks, Arief Suriadi Budiman
2025 International Conference on Business, International Relations, and Diplomacy (ICOBIRD)