Agrivoltaics in the Egyptian desert and watermelons

The page Sustainability Infographics states that solar panels installed several metres above the ground in the Egyptian desert raised watermelon output by around 27% and cut irrigation by up to 25% in the test plots, citing Fraunhofer ISE, SEKEM and Heliopolis University as sources.

The text details the agronomic gain and omits the electricity revenue: who buys it, under what contract and for how long. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre, in the report Overview of the Potential and Challenges for Agri-Photovoltaics in the European Union, of 12 October 2023, lists grid connection and inclusion in renewable energy tenders among the conditions for agrivoltaic expansion. The scope is the EU, not Egypt.

The structure is elevated to let machinery and crops through, and it is a two-decade asset over land whose agricultural revenue changes by season. Without a stated power offtake contract and term, the return cannot be verified.

What sustains an agrivoltaic project is the power contract and its term. A productivity gain is an agronomic result, not revenue.