Most large-scale solar power facilities are huge fixed-tilt installations, with rows upon rows of them covering acres of land. But a newer concept is agrivoltaics, which involves installing solar panels on land already in use for agriculture or livestock. Making the most of such space has led to the development of a novel solar installation geometry, called the vertical bifacial (VBF) array, which was pioneered by German company Next2Sun.

Unlike the massive fixed-tilt installations that require large steel canopies to hold photovoltaic panels above the ground, as their name suggests, VBF panels have an upright orientation and are installed closer to the surface. These walls of panels allow for easier passage of machinery, animals, and people without the need to worry about clearance height, effectively increasing both the land’s usage and the owner’s return on investment.