Iberdrola Pilots Agrivoltaics Above Basque Apple Orchards With Storage Project

• In Vitoria-Gasteiz, Iberdrola will mount bifacial panels 4.1 m above apple trees, pairing generation with crop protection and on-site storage.

Iberdrola is moving ahead with an agrovoltaic pilot in Spain’s Basque Country that aims to prove solar and agriculture can boost each other’s yields. On municipal land in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the company will install bifacial panels on trackers 4.1 meters above apple trees, providing dappled shade that reduces water evaporation and shields fruit from hail while generating clean power. A battery will store excess daytime output for evening use.

The project forms part of the city’s “Vitoria-Gasteiz: City Laboratory” program, with the regional government facilitating a testbed where energy and agriculture co-design the site. Beyond crop quality, teams will track microclimate shifts, soil moisture and tree productivity under different tilt and spacing settings. Results could inform larger orchard deployments—and build social license for solar in cultivated landscapes.

Design choices matter. Elevated trackers increase steel and foundations but create usable space for tractors and harvesting equipment. Bifacial modules can harvest albedo light reflected by ground covers—another variable agronomists can manage. If the data show resilience benefits during heat waves and storms, orchards may emerge as prime candidates for agrivoltaics in temperate zones.

Spain’s broader build-out increasingly weighs community impact alongside gigawatts installed. Demonstrators like this help replace “either/or” debates with measurable trade-offs and practical templates. If it performs as expected, Basque cider apples could soon be ripening under solar canopies—with better yields and a lower water bill to boot.