What are the advantages of OASIS technology?
1.
These facilities have significant energy requirements, which can be met by a power plant installed in their vicinity. With conventional solar power systems, the investor must decide whether to use the land for crop production or energy generation. Agrisolar systems and agrovoltaics, by contrast, enable dual use. OASIS, meanwhile, is an advanced agrisolar solution which significantly increases the efficiency of crop production thanks to irrigation and smart farming solutions. Furthermore, the farmer does not need to take the land out of agricultural production, which makes dual use an attractive option for them. OASIS therefore enables agricultural activities and the generation of clean energy to be carried out at the same location.
2.
OASIS technology also has a significantly beneficial effect on the crops grown beneath it. In recent years, drought in Europe has made life difficult for farmers and reduced productivity. With the agrisolar system we have developed, we can expect significantly higher crop yields. Under certain conditions, we can harvest up to ten times the quantity of higher-quality crops from land shaded by OASIS. Furthermore, crop security is also much more predictable for plants growing under the protective cover of the agrisolar system.
3.
Irrigation and vegetation also have a positive effect on energy production efficiency, as the water applied evaporates, and this evaporation cools the solar panels. The efficiency of modern solar panels decreases if they overheat. By cooling the panels, however, we can achieve greater efficiency in terms of the energy generated. In other words, the panels have a positive effect on the plants, and the plants have a positive effect on the panels. OASIS has therefore found a symbiotic relationship between the two technologies.
4.
OASIS summons life. Outside Europe, countries in Africa and the Middle East are fighting a life-and-death battle against desertification. Across millions of square kilometres, the desert has already taken control of what were once verdant landscapes. OASIS provides an opportunity to fight back. There is water in the desert too; it just needs to be pumped up from deep underground, which requires electricity. OASIS generates this electricity, uses it to bring the water to the surface, and enables crop cultivation beneath the panels in the irrigated areas. In this way, we can give life a chance in regions that are already dead, where it would otherwise have no chance of surviving on its own.
5.
Just 1% of the energy generated by OASIS is sufficient to power the irrigation system. The surplus energy generated can be used to supply factories and processing plants located in the vicinity of the OASIS system. OASIS is not merely an agrisolar solar farm. It is an ecosystem that provides food, crops and jobs for the region in which it is installed.
