PowerfulTree is a recently created basque startup, established to develop projects with an innovative solution in the Agrivoltaics sector. The business and social purpose of PowerfulTree is twofold:
- Projecting, designing, advising on the implementation of Agrivoltaic parks.
- To manufacture, develop, promote and install Agrivoltaic parks.
Agrivoltaic farms are a new concept of low-carbon energy generation in which crops and photovoltaic parks are combined. In other words, we mediate to reconcile land occupation between farms and photovoltaic parks, combining the two activities to optimise them and achieve greater efficiency in each of them.
On the other hand, climate change is causing problems for crops. Excessive insolation causes high temperatures and moisture loss through evapotranspiration. By means of intelligent shading of the panels, we want to control the ripening of the crops, and therefore their quality and production.
At PowerfulTree our goal goes beyond increasing production, our challenge is to make it sustainable in both business models, which is why we use part of the energy generated on the crop to achieve Vegetal Welfare™. By having this electrical energy in the crop, we are going to bring about an agricultural revolution using technologies that, by consuming this electrical energy, pursue precisely Vegetal Welfare™. By adapting each project to the reality of the place, we are increasing social support for renewable energies in the rural world, which in the case of photovoltaic is low due to its impact and because farms see it as a threat and do not consider the benefits obtained from its installation to be so clear.
At PowerfulTree we bring precision agriculture to the practical level to create Vegetal Welfare™. Through Agrivoltaics each tree becomes a "plug" that opens a wide range of new possibilities for improvement, allowing to implement in crops:
- Smart sensors that help in the early detection of pests.
- Advanced automatic irrigation, fertilisation and spraying systems according to crop, soil and climatic conditions.
- Monitoring of pathogens and environmental conditions for decision making.
- Integrated historical analysis to optimise the production process.
- 360° traceability from the field to the plate.
This means a great social impact, as well as a direct benefit to the environment.
At Powerfultree we promote the use of the same land to share the production of photovoltaic and agricultural energy, creating a symbiosis that allows us to develop a new business model:
- Commercialisation of renewable electrical energy.
- Sustainable precision agriculture.
- Sale of carbon credits.
This combination translates into:
- Increasing the sustainability of photovoltaic electricity generation.
- Increasing net income on the same amount of land.
- Social acceptance of energy transition projects in rural areas.
- Creation of new direct and indirect job opportunities.
