Hanwha Q-Cell and POSCO Sign MOU for Agrivoltaics Deployment in Yeongjong

*This content was translated by AI.

Hanwha Solution's Q-Cell division (Hanwha Q-Cell) and POSCO signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 17th to activate agrivoltaics in Korea and establish a domestic industrial ecosystem.

The two companies plan to jointly develop and supply modules and substructure packages optimized for agrivoltaics, and to provide an integrated agrivoltaics solution in the long term.

Agrivoltaics is a solution that combines agriculture with solar power generation to enhance rural sustainability. By optimizing module placement and angles, it supplies the sunlight necessary for crop cultivation while generating electricity from excess sunlight. It has attracted attention as a solar solution suitable for Korea's environment, which has relatively limited land area and many sloped mountainous regions. Agrivoltaics is evaluated not only as an efficient renewable energy deployment method but also as a way to preserve farm income and improve rural sustainability.

Despite these various advantages, agrivoltaics has not yet been widely deployed in earnest. However, with the passage of the "Act on the Promotion and Support of Agrivoltaics Power Generation Projects" (hereinafter referred to as the Agrivoltaics Act) through the National Assembly plenary session last May and its promulgation in June, the maximum permit period for agrivoltaics projects has been extended from eight years to 23 years, laying the foundation for it to become a profitable business.

As representative companies in Korea's solar power and steel industries, the two firms plan to form an "Alliance" based on this MOU to establish a domestic agrivoltaics industrial ecosystem in the future.

A Hanwha Q-Cell official, speaking by phone with this newspaper, said, "Agrivoltaics is designed to provide actual benefits to farmers, allowing for the preservation of farmland and continuation of farming while expanding renewable energy," and added, "Hanwha Q-Cell will work with POSCO to foster a sound agrivoltaics market in line with the government's policy to expand renewable energy."

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*This content was translated by AI.