The Startup Turning Vineyards into Energy Powerhouses

Here’s a win-win opportunity if you grow grapes for a living.

A startup in Israel is integrating solar panels into vineyards.

They generate electricity (and revenue). And they give the farmer precise control over how much sunshine reaches the vine.

The solar panels are fitted right above the grapes, tilting throughout the day – either to capture as much sunlight as possible for energy production, or to shade the vine to delay ripening and improve the flavor of the grapes.

Generating solar energy in vineyards (agrivoltaics) is not a new idea. The challenge is to do it better than the competition by causing minimum disruption to the farmer while providing maximum benefits.

That’s the fine balance that SolarWine believes it has achieved with low-level folding solar panels that don’t get in the way of harvesting machines.

Keep reading at israel21c.org.

SolarWine Co-founder and CEO Eli Safra is a Technion alumnus and current Technion lecturer.