🌾 Ground Mount — Agrivoltaic
Kota Agrivoltaic Farm — 1 MW Ground Mount
📍 Kota, Rajasthan | Completed November 2023
📍 Kota, Rajasthan | Completed November 2023
Mr. Mohan Patel cultivates 5 acres of irrigated land near Kota, growing wheat, mustard, and seasonal vegetables. Facing erratic grid power for his irrigation pumps — often 6–8 hours of scheduled cuts during peak agricultural seasons — and escalating agricultural tariff rates, he explored solar as a solution. However, he was not willing to sacrifice productive farmland simply to host a solar project. He had attended a state agriculture exhibition where agrivoltaics (combining solar and farming on the same land) was demonstrated and brought the concept to FGPS Solar.
The engineering challenge was significant. The site had uneven terrain with a 1.2-metre elevation change across the 2.5-acre plot. Groundwater depth was 18 metres, ruling out deep foundation piles due to cost. Strong south-westerly winds during pre-monsoon months (April–June) necessitated careful structural load calculations. And critically, Mr. Patel wanted panels high enough — minimum 3 metres clearance — to allow his tractor and harvesting equipment to operate freely underneath.
FGPS Solar designed a dual-axis optimised agrivoltaic structure with inter-row spacing of 8 metres and a minimum panel underside clearance of 3.2 metres — exceeding the client's requirement. We used driven steel piles with depth varying between 1.5–2.2 metres based on soil bearing capacity tests at eight locations across the site, avoiding the need for concrete foundations entirely and eliminating any risk to the root zones of crops.
The 2,400 panels are arranged in four 250 kW strings with central string combiner boxes and a dedicated 1 MW central inverter connected to a 33 kV agricultural feeder line. The system simultaneously covers the farm's own irrigation load and exports surplus power under the Rajasthan Agricultural Solar policy, with Mr. Patel receiving a per-unit grid tariff of ₹3.14/kWh for exported energy on a 25-year PPA.
Three months post-installation, Mr. Patel's agronomist measured a 12% improvement in mustard yield under the partially shaded panels due to reduced evapotranspiration and moisture retention — an additional benefit not originally anticipated. The project has become a model site referenced by the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RREC) in their agrivoltaic policy outreach.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Panel Type | Tata Power Solar 420 Wp Bifacial Mono PERC |
| Panel Count | 2,400 panels across 4 sub-arrays |
| Inverter | Sungrow SG1000UD — 1 MW central inverter, transformer-less |
| Mounting System | Elevated galvanised steel structure; driven piles 1.5–2.2 m depth |
| Panel Height | 3.2 m minimum clearance from ground to underside of panels |
| Orientation | South-facing, 15° fixed tilt, 8 m inter-row spacing |
| Land Area | 2.5 acres (1.01 hectares) — farming continues underneath |
| Annual Generation | 15,00,000 kWh (CUF ~17.1%) |
| Grid Connection | 33 kV agricultural feeder; 25-year PPA at ₹3.14/kWh |
| SCADA Monitoring | Remote monitoring with weather station; soil moisture sensors |
The project generates two distinct revenue streams. First, the irrigation load saving: the farm's four 7.5 HP submersible pumps previously consumed approximately 90,000 units per year at the agricultural tariff, incurring around ₹30 lakh in annual electricity costs. Now they run entirely on solar during daylight, eliminating that expenditure.
Second, surplus generation exported to the Rajasthan grid earns ₹3.14/kWh under the PPA, adding approximately ₹1.05 crore per year to Mr. Patel's income. Combined, the total annual financial benefit crosses ₹1.35 crore — turning a 2.5-acre section of farmland into a clean-energy-generating asset with a 2.9-year payback on the ₹3.9 crore total project cost.
The agrivoltaic design delivers an unexpected bonus: partial shading from the elevated panels reduces water evaporation from the soil by an estimated 18%, reducing irrigation frequency during peak summer months. This effectively extends the farm's usable growing period by 3–4 weeks into April, when temperatures in Kota routinely exceed 42°C and open-field crops would otherwise fail.
Over 25 years, cumulative returns from the solar component alone — discounted at 9% — are projected at ₹18.4 crore, making this one of the highest-return-per-acre agricultural investments in the Hadoti region. Mr. Patel has since applied to develop an additional 2.5 acres on a neighbouring plot using the same model.
I was worried that putting solar on my farm would mean giving up growing — that I would have to choose between farming and solar income. FGPS Solar showed me I don't have to choose at all. My mustard crop under the panels is actually yielding better than before because the soil stays moist longer. And my electricity bill for irrigation has gone to zero. I'm now earning from the land and from the sun at the same time. This is what smart farming looks like.
We'll assess your land size, soil profile, and local grid tariff to model exactly how much you can earn from solar while continuing to farm.
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