Research

As part of the Digitalisation in Agriculture 2024-2028 cluster, a use case on AgriPV in vegetable cultivation is to be investigated. The use case will initially identify the challenges involved in managing and growing vegetables in APV systems, particularly through the use of field robots. Based on the results, possibilities for automating agricultural activities in an APV system with the aid of a field robot will be identified. This will involve an analysis of current technologies and systems for field robots in agriculture, particularly for use with limited availability of GPS-RTK. Once a suitable field robot has been identified, a crop will be cultivated and maintained largely autonomously by the field robot. Once the work has been completed, optimisation potential and possible adaptations for the specific requirements of vegetable cultivation in APV systems will be derived.

The aim is to increase the efficiency of energy generation and storage technologies, scalability, reduction of manufacturing costs, optimisation over the entire life cycle and effective system integration. The focus is on the (further) development and optimisation of components and complete systems, the development and use of technologies (hardware components such as power electronics, sensors, ... as well as digital methods and tools) for yield control and security, damage detection or predictive maintenance and sector integration of innovative energy and storage technologies, efficient manufacturing processes and technological solutions (e.g. grid forming inverters, secure communication infrastructures, ...) for hybrid renewable systems and power plants.

The aim of the study is to identify those biogas plants that could use regionally available biogenic residues and waste materials and where biomethane production would be possible at the same time due to their proximity to the gas grid. Based on three to four model regions in Austria, the biogas plant data will be collected and the available and realisable potentials of biogenic residues and waste materials will be determined on the municipal as well as on the site level. Furthermore, a survey will be conducted for the use as biomethane and a possible gas feed-in. The concept is to be developed in such a way that it can be transferred to all Austrian regions. A graphical model is to be developed with the geo-information software QGIS, which will provide a visual representation of the biogas plants in question and can also be transferred to other regions.