A cold spring night can be enough to wipe out the flowers that would have become a season’s fruit. But a study from France has found that solar panels placed above nectarine trees may give a second line of defense, helping keep flower buds warmer when frost settles over the orchard.
Researchers found that nectarine trees growing beneath a dynamic agrivoltaic system had warmer nighttime temperatures during frost events than trees growing without panels. The difference was especially notable inside the flower buds, where temperatures were up to 1.90°C higher under the panels on one of the monitored frost nights.
