TNAU in collaboration with Teesside University, UK hosted an International Conference on “AgroVoltaics and Sustainability in Farming” at Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute (ICAR Accredited, AICTE Approved & ISO Certified Institute: 21001:2018) as a part of activity under MoE sponsored SPARC & UKIERI project on September 19, 2024. Around 200 participants, scientists and students from various college and industry experts attended the conference.
During the inaugural session, Prof. Senthilarasu Sundaram, International PI (UKIERI), Teesside University, UK briefed that the conference is designed to be a premier forum for the deliberations on Agrovoltaics and Sustainable Agricultural Practices.
Dr. A. Raviraj, Dean (Agrl. Engg.) in his felicitation address highlighted about the importance of adopting agrovoltaics in India and the activities undergone in Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Coimbatore towards formulating sustainable solutions.
Prof. V. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU presided the inaugural ceremony and released Proceedings of the Conference. In her inaugural address, Prof. V. Geethalakshmi highlighted that the objective of the SPARC & UKIERI project is to develop a research consortium to address Agrovoltaics design and establishment for Net-Zero Agriculture and reported that in the near future Agrovoltaics will be practiced in all the departments of TNAU.
The event was effectuated with keynote addresses entitled “Achieving Net-zero through Water-Energy-Food nexus” by Prof. Hari Upadhyaya, London South Bank, University, UK, “Vertical farming to increase the yield with efficient HVAC system” by Prof. Kumar Patchigolla, Teesside University, UK, “Climate resilient agriculture with Renkube Panel” by Dr. Lakshmi Santhanam, COO, Co-Founder, Renkube Solar Energy Pvt Ltd., Bengaluru, “Circular Economy – Enabling approaches” by Prof. David Hughes, Teesside University, UK and “ Smart Energy Systems in terms of Sustainable Engineering and Net Zero Agriculture” by Prof. Michael Short, Teesside University, UK. The event featured a series of technical sessions, oral and poster presentations tailored to exchange of knowledge on Agrovoltaics technologies and emerging renewable energy agricultural engineering interventions and allied industries.
This conference has built a strong network of scientists/researchers, PG/Ph.D. scholars and practitioners to explore innovative solutions and collaborative strategies that integrate renewable energy with agricultural systems.
The conference was organized under Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), Ministry of Education. Dr.D.Ramesh, Professor and Head, Department of Renewable Energy Engineering and Dr.R.Mahendiran, Prof. (REE) & Indian PI (SPARC), Organizing Secretary were also taken key activities of the conference.