Modeling the Agricultural Production below innovative photovoltaic panels (Agrivoltaics) 

Context and missions :

• PV electricity production and crop cultivation are prone to competition for land use as both activities require natural sunlight. To respond to this challenge, Feedgy’s R&D team has developed an innovative bifacial PV modules specifically designed for APV applications, capable of optimizing both activities – electricity production and crop cultivation – by carefully managing the available solar resource. At the heart of the concept is the use of optical and spectral management technologies.

• To evaluate the electrical and agricultural performance of this new concept, a 750 kW pilot PV greenhouse has recently been commissioned. The pilot system has been instrumented with a large number of sensors, including electrical, light, temperature and other sensors. The objective of the internship is to use available data to calibrate, validate, and develop new crop simulation modeling tools capable of estimating crop production in different PV greenhouses and overhead APV plants. Potential crop simulation modelling frameworks to be incorporated include DSSAT, STICS, pySTICS, and SIMPLE, which will be paired with the optical models already in development.

Additional Details

• Our innovation team uses Python for modelling whenever possible, but DSSAT and STICS have GUI versions as well

• Feedgy may organize field trips to visit existing PV installations and test benches

• There is a possibility of a job offer upon the successful completion of the internship

• Masters student in the field of agricultural or environmental engineering 

• Strong knowledge of agronomy, crop physiology, and biophysics  

• Experience with crop simulation, environmental simulation, or other process-based models is preferred 

• Experience working with R and/or Python 

• Professional proficiency in English is required 

• Experience with the treatment and analysis of time-series data 

• Critical thinking, curiosity, and autonomy 

• Start-up mindset and team spirit 

Our offer :

• 6-month internship starting in February/March/April 2025 

• Young company with a well-defined vision and a strong societal impact 

• Recently renovated, modern office space with a large focus on comfort and well-being 

• International team with a great cohesion and a passion for renewable energy and agrivoltaics 

• Innovative working environment where everyone’s ideas are welcome 

• Animated neighbourhood with a proximity to public transportation

• Interview with Hunter (R&D Engineer - Agrivoltaics) and Marko (R&D Director) - in English

• Interview with Stéphanie (R&D Manager - Agrivoltaics) & Bianca (Talent Acquisition Partner)