Teamed up with Korea East-West Power Corporation for farming solar power development and empirical research
Aiming to improve farming productivity by more than 5% compared to existing farm solar power
Expected to contribute to increasing farm income and to procure renewable energy sources
[July 17, 2019]
<YU and Korea East-West Power Corporation will begin joint research on the ‘development of solar power systems for enhancing farming productivity by applying LED light sources’>
YU (President Sur Gil-soo) and Korea East-West Power Corporation will conduct joint research on ‘development of solar power systems for enhancing farming productivity by applying LED light sources’.
In particular, it is expected that this study will act as a foundation for R&D for the mass supply of solar power generation for farms. Farming solar power generation constructs solar power generators on farmland to complete a two-track project of crop farming and solar power generation. This is a core project being pursued by the government to simultaneously achieve increased farm income and procurement of renewable energy sources.
This joint research will be led by YU Professor of Chemical Engineering Jung Jae-hak (57) with 500 million KRW in research expenses funded by Korea East-West Power Corporation and will be carried out for two years from July 2019. Existing solar power generation for farms simply install solar power generators on top of the farmland, but quality of crops decrease due to the shadow cast over the land and harvest dropped to about 85%. In order to resolve this issue, the research team will conduct empirical studies of applying 600nm (nanometer) bandwidth LED light sources.
Professor Jung explained, “Among the visible rays, 600nm wavelengths not only promote photosynthesis of plants, but can also accelerate delivery of nutrients to the roots and fruits, thus increasing harvest.” He added, “We are planning to develop optimal lightening processing technologies and systems through light distribution uniformity analysis to maximize such lightening effect.
In order to develop and verify the solar power technology applying optimal LED lighting technologies in this study, YU will construct a 50kW demonstration site on a site spanning across approximately 2,314㎡. During this period, it is planning to evaluate harvests, optimal cultivation management technologies per crop, safety and economic feasibility to develop a next-generation farm solar power distribution model.
Professor Jung said, “Solar power generation for farms was pursued focusing on power generation, which impeded upon activation of projects.” He further explained, “Through this study, we plan to enhance agricultural productivity by more than 5% compared to existing solar power for farms to increase receptivity by farmers. It will contribute to expanding renewable energy and increasing income for rural areas by procuring land for solar power.”
Meanwhile, Professor Jung Jae-hak, who is in charge of this joint study, is said to be one of the top authorities in the solar power sector in Korea. Professor Jung is currently leading the ‘YU Daegu-Gyeongbuk Solar Cell/Module Materials Process Regional Innovation Center’, which is the nation’s only regional innovation center (RIC) specialized in the solar power sector. He was also selected as a winner for the ‘Daegu-Gyeongbuk Green Awards’ in the research sector.
