The growing number of photovoltaic installations has created competition in land use between the need for electricity and food. Agrivoltaic systems (AVSs) can help solve this problem by increasing land use efficiency through the co-production of electricity and food. However, in Japan, where more than 2000 AVSs have been installed, some undesirable AVS cases have led to new problems. In this study, we developed an AVS installation model that is compatible with a regional society and limits the scale of AVS installation to a low-risk level. AVS projects have also entered local industrial clusters and stimulated the local economy. In this study, we used public information and geographic information systems to ensure quantifiability and applicability. The results revealed that the rural area targeted in this study had an AVS generation potential of 215% (equal to 17.8 GWh) of the region’s annual electricity consumption and an economic ripple effect of 108.9% (EUR 47.8 million) of the region’s gross regional product. Furthermore, the levelized cost of electricity was estimated to be 14.94–25.54 Euro cents/kWh under secure settings. This study provides solutions to food, economic, and energy problems in rural areas by promoting the installation of AVSs.

Decarbonization and idle cropland reclaiming pose critical policy challenges. Agrivoltaic systems (AVSs), which merge agriculture and photovoltaics, offer a promising solution by reducing land use conflicts between agriculture and energy production. This study develops a GIS-based methodology to identify reclaimable idle croplands and assess the AVS’s contribution to agriculture and photovoltaic energy in Japan’s Kansai region. Using official geographic data and excluding high-risk areas, this study employs GIS for quantitative analysis. Our method detected more reclaimable idle cropland than previous studies. Focusing on food security while limiting AVS installations to reclaimable idle croplands could still generate up to 4564.08 GWh of electricity (0.8% of regional consumption) and 930.82 tons of soybeans (6.2% of regional yield). Under a more stringent scenario that excludes areas less suitable for solar power, 5 of 227 municipalities could achieve 15% electricity self-sufficiency through AVS. This research uncovers the existence of reclaimable idle croplands that could not be detected by existing methods and a decentralized power source available alongside food security maintenance. These insights will inform decarbonization and agricultural policy and guide the development of supportive and regulatory AVS frameworks.

Agrivoltaic systems (AVSs) present a promising solution to land-use conflicts between solar photovoltaics and agriculture. Nevertheless, their electricity-side cost performance is strongly influenced by site-specific conditions and agricultural constraints, and a comprehensive nationwide geospatial assessment of optimal designs under agronomic light constraints remains lacking. To address this gap, we developed a GIS-based techno-economic framework for Japan to identify site-specific optimal designs by minimizing the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) while satisfying crop light requirements represented by target Daily Light Integral (DLI) values. The analysis indicates a national average LCOE of 0.1021 EUR kWh⁻¹ for optimized AVSs, with lower electricity-side costs in central to southwestern regions characterized by high solar irradiance. The optimal design, particularly the projected ground coverage ratio (average: 30.38%), varied considerably across the country to balance power generation and crop light availability. Scenario and sensitivity analyses revealed that LCOE is highly sensitive to crop light requirements, whereas PV system efficiency and capital expenditure are the most influential cost drivers. This study provides the first high-resolution, nation-scale LCOE map for AVS in Japan derived through grid-level design optimization under explicit DLI-based constraints, offering a quantitative screening-level foundation for region-specific deployment planning.

As the climate crisis intensifies, the urgency for sustainable, agroecological farming practices has never been greater. This study explores the potential of agrivoltaic systems (AVSs) to meet these needs efficiently. Utilizing geographic information systems for quantitative analysis, this research assesses the electricity generation, agricultural output, job creation, and economic impact of implementing AVS in Japan’s Kansai region. The study identifies an ample generation potential, including up to 14,041 GWh/year of electricity generation, suggesting that AVSs could be instrumental in shaping effective policies for both decarbonization and food security.