Raspberries and Electricity from the Same Land: How Uzbekistan Is Testing Agrivoltaics

In the Syrdarya region, A Master Fruit is testing agrivoltaics: raspberries grow under solar panels that simultaneously generate electricity and provide shade. Following the first pilot, the company is moving to a megawatt-scale project, which is intended to demonstrate whether such a system can economically compete with a simpler combination—a shading net and a conventional solar power plant, EastFruit reports, citing the website “KUN.UZ.”

In Mirzabod district of the Syrdarya region, raspberries grow under an unusual solar installation whose panels not only generate electricity but also create shade, protecting the berries from summer overheating. The metal structural elements simultaneously serve as supports for trellises, while the area under the panels is partially protected from precipitation.

This is what the first pilot project of the company “A Master Fruit” LLC in agrivoltaics looks like—a technology that allows agricultural crops to be grown and solar electricity to be produced on the same land simultaneously.

“For us, agrivoltaics is a system in which the production of agricultural products and electricity are designed as two equal functions on the same territory. If panels are installed without considering the needs of plants, and crops are grown under them only because there is free space left, it is difficult to call this a full-fledged agrivoltaic model,” explains Umid Saifudinov, director of the company “A Master Fruit.”

The initial capacity of the “A Master Fruit” pilot agrivoltaic installation was approximately 50 kW. In August 2025, technology partner Provitaz announced the commissioning of the facility, calling it the first of its kind agrivoltaic model in Central Asia. Subsequently, the pilot was expanded, and the installation’s capacity reached 60 kW.

Now, the company “A Master Fruit” is participating in the scaling of the project through the joint venture FARMDO. The planned connection capacity of the new facility to the power grid is up to 990 kW of alternating current, and the area of the raspberry plantation under the agrivoltaic structures is approximately 1.5 hectares.

However, as the scale increases, a key economic question arises: why should a farmer build a more complex and expensive structure directly over a berry plantation compared to a conventional solar power plant, if shading can be provided by a cheaper net and the solar power plant can be installed separately?

Essentially, it is precisely this question that the next phase of the project is intended to answer.

Not just a solar power station over a raspberry plantation

In agrivoltaics, the cultivation of a specific plant species must be considered at the design stage: how much light it requires, what height of structures is necessary for that particular plant, for human work and agricultural machinery, what spacing is required between rows, how irrigation and air circulation will be organized, and so on.

“When designing, it is essential to account for the light requirements of the crop, the type, height, and placement of panels, row spacing, access for maintenance and harvest, irrigation, air circulation, and mechanization. At our farm, it is particularly important that the structure protects the raspberries from extreme summer sun without depriving them of the light necessary for growth and fruiting,” says Saidudinov.

A similar approach is also developing beyond Uzbekistan. In Europe, agrivoltaics is increasingly being considered as a way to combine electricity production and agriculture on the same plot of land. In several countries, specific requirements are already in place to preserve the agricultural function of such lands. For example, in France, the yield on an agrivoltaic plot must, in general, exceed 90% of the yield of a control plot or the corresponding reference value, although the legislation provides for certain exceptions.

However, the potential benefits of agrivoltaics do not arise automatically. Such systems can, in some cases, improve water use efficiency, protect crops from extreme weather, and increase overall productivity, but the outcome depends on the specific design, crop, and site conditions. Experts emphasize that each project must be evaluated individually.

Why specifically raspberry

Raspberries were not chosen at random for the initial trial. They are one of the main commercial crops for A Master Fruit and, at the same time, a crop sensitive to extreme heat and direct solar radiation.

The economics of the project were also considered when selecting the crop. Agrophotovoltaic systems are significantly more complex and expensive than conventional solar power plants. Therefore, according to A Master Fruit, this technology holds the greatest potential primarily for high-yield crops that are sensitive to overheating. Raspberries fall into this category as a relatively expensive berry, where maintaining harvest quality and achieving earlier market access can have substantial economic implications. In Sayfuldinov’s view, for inexpensive, high-volume crops, the additional investment in agrophotovoltaics often does not pay off. Consequently, such projects should be evaluated based on the combined revenue from both the harvest and electricity generated per hectare, rather than solely on the capacity of the solar station.

Before the installation of the panels, A Master Fruit was already cultivating raspberries under standard shading nets.

“The main idea of the pilot was to combine plant protection from overheating and solar damage with electricity generation on the same area. In addition, we wanted to test whether such a structure could reduce moisture evaporation. For us, agrivoltaics is, first and foremost, an agricultural technology with an additional energy function,” said the company’s director.

The company clarified that the area of the agricultural zone associated with the pilot and the area of the direct projection of the solar modules are different metrics; therefore, exact values should be determined based on the as-built drawings.

According to the farm’s assessment, the lower edge of the panels is located at a height of approximately 2.5 meters. Umid Saifudinov noted that, from an engineering perspective, the structure could have been raised to 3.5–4 meters, but this would have required more metal and increased installation costs. Therefore, during the design phase, not only agronomic requirements but also the available budget were taken into account, and it was decided to test the structure at a height of approximately 2.5 meters.

The height of the raspberry bushes and the spacing between rows were also taken into account during the design phase to ensure access for plant care and the passage of machinery. The row spacing is approximately three meters. The panels form a gentle gable structure designed to generate electricity throughout the daylight hours.

"Both sides of the structure generate electricity when solar radiation is present, but their contribution changes throughout the day depending on the sun's position. We aimed to select the geometry in a way that aligns electricity generation with suitable lighting conditions for the raspberries," explains Saidudinov.

In designing the pilot, the team targeted a shading level of approximately 70%. According to Saidudinov, this figure was chosen taking into account the specific characteristics of the crop, the level of solar radiation, and the experience of growing raspberries under shading nets in the Syrdarya region.

However, the design-level 70% shading does not mean that plants consistently receive the same proportion of sunlight. Actual light exposure depends on module characteristics, structural geometry, time of day, and season. Therefore, as the company emphasizes, the parameters of an agrivoltaic system must be tailored to the specific crop and regional conditions.

12 to 15 days of downtime can cost more than a few percent of the harvest.

During the observation period on the pilot site, "A Master Fruit" obtained several interesting results. One of the most notable findings is related not so much to the volume of the harvest, but to the ripening period of the berries. Raspberries are grown both under the agrivoltaic installation and under a standard shading net. The same variety, drip irrigation with fertigation, and comparable agronomic practices are used on both plots. However, a full experiment with the control of all conditions has not yet been conducted.

"According to our preliminary observations, in certain seasons, raspberries under the agrivoltaic panels ripened approximately 12–15 days earlier than those under the shading net. This potentially allows for an earlier entry into the market, when the supply of local berries is still limited. However, comparable measurements over several seasons will be required to confirm the stability of such a difference," says Saidudinov.

According to the farm, raspberry harvesting under the agrivoltaic structure began on May 5, 2026, while berries had not yet been harvested on the adjacent open plots. For fresh produce, an earlier market entry could have significant economic implications. However, the actual impact will depend on sales volumes, berry quality, and actual market prices.

Meanwhile, "A Master Fruit" does not currently claim that agrivoltaics increases yields.

"The quality of the produce was roughly the same under both the agrivoltaic structure and the netting. As for yield, we did not conduct specific measurements to assess differences. Based on my observations, the figures were similar," the company's director noted.

A solar roof partially protects the berries from precipitation

Another advantage highlighted by the farm is the partial protection of berries from direct exposure to precipitation. For raspberries, it is particularly important that the fruit remains dry during harvest: wet berries have reduced tolerance to transportation and storage, and the risk of rot development increases.

"In areas directly covered by the panels, berries often remain drier after rain, allowing harvesting to resume more quickly. However, the degree of protection depends on the plant layout and water runoff from the modules," says Saidudinov.

The spring raspberry harvest takes place in May, a period when precipitation is still possible in the Syrdarya Region. The panels can offer partial protection against rain and hail, but they do not provide a fully enclosed shelter.

The farm also notes differences in the timing of spring development and the end of autumn fruiting in remontant raspberries. The company acknowledges that the structure may influence nighttime cooling, dew formation, and the microclimate around the plants. However, its impact on frost protection and the length of the harvest period still needs to be confirmed through measurements, and such effects could potentially be economically significant at the beginning and end of the season.

The first pilot tested the feasibility of the concept.

It is important to distinguish between what A Master Fruit has already observed in practice and what still needs to be confirmed quantitatively. The initial 50 kW pilot, later expanded to 60 kW, was created primarily to test the viability of the concept itself: can raspberries be grown under solar panels in the conditions of the Syrdarya region, how convenient is it to maintain such a plantation, and what advantages or limitations will emerge in practice.

The system was not initially designed as a full-fledged scientific experiment with identical sensors and parallel tracking of all indicators on experimental and control plots.

At the A Master Fruit farm, observations are being made on weather, plant condition, fruiting periods, yield, and berry quality. However, systematic, comparable monitoring of microclimate, water consumption, and yield under different cultivation variants has not yet been conducted.

In other words, the first pilot was meant to answer the question: does the idea work? The new project must now answer a different question: how effective and profitable is it?

From the first pilot to a megawatt-scale project

The next phase is significantly larger. The planned installed capacity of the solar modules is estimated at approximately 1.2 MW DC, with a planned grid connection capacity of up to 990 kW AC. Final parameters will be determined by the approved project documentation. The area of the raspberry plantation under the agrivoltaic structures is estimated at approximately 1.5 hectares.

A Master Fruit is scaling up through FARMDO, a joint venture established with Japanese company Farmland and Norwegian technology partner Provitaz. A Master Fruit serves as the agricultural initiator and participant in the project, while FARMDO was created specifically to develop and scale agrivoltaic solutions.

Initially, the partners planned to divide the project roughly equally between fixed agrivoltaic structures and solar trackers. However, due to equipment supply conditions from SolarGik, the configuration had to be changed. According to Umid Saifudinov, the tracker system will now account for the majority of the project, while the fixed system will make up a smaller portion. The exact ratio will depend on the final layout scheme and the metric used for calculation—whether it is area or installed capacity.

There is a fundamental difference between these two technologies. The fixed section uses special panels with a specified light transmittance, while the tracker section uses standard opaque solar modules whose position changes to follow the sun.

“The point of tracker-based agrivoltaics is not to create a constant, full shade. The shade moves throughout the day, and the system allows for managing the light regime—distributing sunlight between the plants and electricity generation,” explains Umid Saifudinov.

Thus, the farm will be able to compare two different approaches: constant, pre-calculated shading and dynamic management of the light regime.

How much does it cost to scale up to a business level

The estimated budget for the new project is approximately $850,000. However, this amount should not be interpreted as the cost of solar panels alone or directly compared with the price of a conventional ground-mounted solar power plant of similar capacity. The budget covers the entire agrophotovoltaic infrastructure complex.

“The budget includes support structures, solar equipment, control systems, batteries, delivery, and installation. Transportation, customs clearance, and related expenses also constitute a significant portion of the costs, but the final breakdown will be determined upon completion of the calculations,” explains Umid Saifudinov.

The project also provides for a battery system with a nominal energy capacity of approximately 300 kWh. This figure characterizes the energy storage capacity of the batteries, while their power is measured in kilowatts.

The agrophotovoltaic system itself requires more complex metal structures than a conventional ground-mounted solar power plant: solar modules must be positioned taking into account the needs of plants, as well as access for people and agricultural machinery. In the tracker section, this is further complicated by the addition of drives and an automatic control system.

“Compared to the cost of a conventional ground-mounted solar power plant, there is no single percentage increase in cost; it all depends on the specific project. The additional expenditures must be justified by the outcomes of both functions – energy generation and agriculture,” says Saifudinov.

Four plots will provide the answer

Starting in the spring of 2027, A Master Fruit, in collaboration with its partners, plans to begin systematic comparative monitoring of four raspberry cultivation methods: under SolarGik solar trackers, under fixed Flagsun panels, under standard shading nets, and in open ground. To ensure the results can be properly compared, the plots will be standardized as much as possible in terms of plant variety and age, planting density, and agronomic care.

“We plan to install comparable sets of METER Group sensors on each of the four plots. These will help measure microclimate parameters, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), humidity, temperature, and soil electrical conductivity, as well as water potential. We also plan to separately organize the measurement of irrigation water consumption and track the timing of flowering and ripening, plant condition, and yield,” says Umid Saifudinov.

In addition, the quality and marketability of the berries, electricity generation based on data from the respective metering systems, operational costs, and equipment costs per hectare and per kilowatt will be evaluated.

It is precisely these data that will determine whether agrivoltaics in Uzbekistan justifies the additional costs compared to a simpler combination: a shading net over the plants and a conventional solar power plant on a separate site.

The first pilot by A Master Fruit allowed testing how compatible raspberry cultivation is with solar power generation on the same plot. The new project must answer a more complex question: can the combined benefits of agrivoltaics—electricity production, microclimate modification, protection of the commercial crop, more rational water use, and potentially earlier berry ripening—compensate for the additional investment in such a system.

Information for this article was obtained from the FAO/EBRD project “Greening the Horticultural Value Chain in Uzbekistan.”

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