«The greenhouse represents a very significant investment for farmers. These days, the minimum starting cost is €1M for an installation covering 2 hectares. Very few farmers have the necessary solvency to borrow such amounts, particularly during the current credit squeeze following on from the economic crisis.
We believe that Solarneo’s answer consisting of providing farmers with photovoltaic greenhouses is totally relevant, hence our commitment to a win/win partnership
»
Both Solarneo’s greenhouse models – in glass and in plastic – offer substantial gains in productivity for no financial outlay. The Solarneo agricultural photovoltaic greenhouse is therefore a very real response enabling the French sector to move into a phase of unprecedented change.
1. An agricultural tool essential for the development of the production of organic or sustainable market-garden produce in France, since it allows:
- a significant increase in the production of fruit and vegetables compared with open field cultivation;
- control over the production ecosystem:
- control over irrigation, halving diseases,
- use of biological pest control strategies, as the closed environment makes it possible to use alternatives to phytosanitary products
2. The photovoltaic agricultural greenhouse provides farmers with long-term extra financial income:
- agricultural tools financed in totality by the income from the photovoltaic installation;
- additional income from sharing the net photovoltaic income once the installation has paid for itself.
3. The photovoltaic aspect makes it possible to self-finance crop production infrastructures
It enables French growers to be competitive by reducing their production costs by 35% (i.e. the average annual amount of the depreciation burden). It also makes it possible for young people and new farmers to start up.