Portrait of Ananta Aacharya.
Photo: Alva Mårtensson, SLU.

Ananta takes a holistic approach to solar panels on farmland

News published:  30/06/2026

Ananta Aacharya is investigating how agrivoltaics can pay off in Sweden. He and seven other doctoral students contribute to knowledge development in the field of food through the LTV faculty's investment in the SLU and Sparbanken Skåne Centre for Sustainable Primary Production.

At the Department of Biosystems and Technology, doctoral student Ananta Aacharya researches agrivoltaic systems, in which the same arable land is used to produce both food and electricity.

Placing solar panels on the fields allows the land to be used more efficiently – but the technology is costly and requires the farm machinery to be adapted.

Ananta Aacharya wants to take a holistic approach to how the systems should be designed to work economically under northern European conditions. The hope is to be able to carry out experiments at a test facility.

– I encounter a great deal of interest in the industry. Agrivoltaics is clearly a fascinating subject. But to answer the question of the system’s sustainability in Sweden, we need practical experience, says Ananta Aacharya.

In the long term, he wants the project to help reduce land-use conflicts between food and energy production, support a transition to a low-carbon economy and improve food and energy security.

A doctoral student portrait of Ananta Aacharya is now published on the centre's website.

Read the text here: A holistic approach to agrivoltaics points the way to profitability.

Centre for Sustainable Primary Production

The SLU and Sparbanken Skåne Centre for Sustainable Primary Production was established in Alnarp in 2025. The centre is a co-funding arrangement between the LTV faculty and Sparbanken Skåne through its owner foundation Finn.

Through the faculty's investment, funding is provided for, among other things, eight doctoral positions whose research will contribute to knowledge development in sustainable primary production in the field of food.

Presentations of doctoral students

All doctoral students will be presented over the coming months.

Read all portraits here: Doctoral students.

Wheat field.

The SLU and Sparbanken Skåne Centre for Sustainable Primary Production

Through excellent research and education, the centre will collaborate with industry and public actors to develop, disseminate and make use of knowledge and new solutions for a transition that balances economic, ecological and social sustainability. Primary production refers to the first stage of the food chain, which often takes place at farm level in agricultural and horticultural enterprises. It includes, for example, the production of fruit and vegetables, cereals, rapeseed, legumes, and meat, eggs and dairy.

Eight doctoral students

  • Adrien Vial: Can the integration of ecological theory with quantitative genetics transform disease resistance breeding?
    Primary supervisor: Aakash Chawade, Department of Plant Breeding.
  • Ananta Aacharya: Crop cultivation in combination with solar panels on arable land – How does it contribute to the future need for food and energy in a profitable way?
    Primary supervisor: Daniel Nilsson, Department of Biosystems and Technology.
  • Andrew Gallagher: Transformative governance for a sustainable food system.
    Primary supervisor: Fredrik Fernqvist, Department of People and Society.
  • Laurène Mailhan: From Stench to Scent – Genetic strategies towards bunt-free organic wheat.
    Primary supervisor: Therese Bengtsson, Department of Plant Breeding.
  • Linda Groot Nibbelink: The potential of Nordic heirloom vegetables for improved national food security and ability to cope with future climate changes.
    Primary supervisor: Lars Mogren, Department of Biosystems and Technology.
  • Luboš Říha: Towards a sustainable future with reduced input through enhanced starch yield and tailored starch qualities.
  • Primary supervisor: Mariette Andersson, Department of Plant Breeding.
    Mina Nešić: Exploring seed quality traits and their genetic regulation in Swedish protein crops for enhanced diversity and nutritional stability.
  • Primary supervisor: Cecilia Hammenhag, Department of Plant Breeding.
    Yizhi Zhang: Climate impact mitigation and resource use efficiency of rooftop greenhouses for urban food production.
  • Primary supervisor: Thomas Prade, Department of Biosystems and Technology.

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