UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Agri-Voltaics

Q1. Consider the following arrangements on farmland: Which of the arrangements given above can be described as agrivoltaics?

  1. A farmer replaces a diesel pump with a standalone solar pump whose panels occupy a corner of the field that has been taken out of cultivation.
  2. Solar modules are mounted on high stilts over a vegetable plot, and tractors continue to operate beneath them.
  3. Rows of solar panels are installed between strips of cultivated pulses, with farming continuing in the strips.
  4. A farmer leases cultivable land to a developer who converts the whole plot into a ground-mounted solar plant feeding the grid.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q2. With reference to the effect of partial shading by solar panels on crops grown beneath them, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A lower canopy temperature under the panels can reduce heat stress on crops during hot spells.
  2. Since shading lowers heat stress, it raises the yield of every crop grown under the panels, including sun-loving cereals.
  3. A crop whose photosynthesis saturates at light levels well below full sunlight is likely to lose less yield under partial shade than a crop that needs full sunlight.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. In hot and dry regions, crops grown under partially shading agrivoltaic panels can need less irrigation water than the same crops in open fields.
  2. Solar panels cut the radiation reaching the soil and crop canopy, which lowers evaporative water losses from the field.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q4. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Under feeder-level solarisation of PM-KUSUM, farmers on a solarised agricultural feeder are assured of daytime power for irrigation.
  2. Under the feeder-level solarisation guidelines, each farmer on a solarised feeder can sell surplus solar power to the DISCOM at a tariff fixed by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q5. Consider the following facts: Farmer P irrigates with a standalone off-grid solar pump. Farmer Q irrigates with a grid-connected electric pump supplied on a flat-rate, unmetered tariff. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

  1. For both P and Q, running the pump for an additional hour adds almost nothing to what they pay for energy.
  2. P's pumping is limited mainly by sunshine hours and pump capacity rather than by the cost of energy.
  3. Shifting Q to a standalone solar pump would, by itself, give Q an incentive to pump less groundwater.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q6. In an over-exploited groundwater block, a State finds that groundwater draft rose after it distributed standalone solar pumps to farmers. Which of the following changes addresses the economic cause of this rise most directly?

  • A. Fitting each pump with larger solar panels so that the farmer's daily pumping hours are shortened
  • B. Raising the capital subsidy on the pumps so that farmers bear none of the cost of buying them
  • C. Connecting the pumps to the grid and paying farmers for the solar power they do not use for pumping
  • D. Replacing the solar pumps with grid pumps given free, unmetered electricity during night hours

Q7. The Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) of an agrivoltaic plot is the sum of its crop yield relative to an open field of the same area and its electricity output relative to a conventional solar plant of the same area. On Plot A, crop yield is 80% of the open-field yield and electricity output is 60% of a conventional plant's. On Plot B, crop yield is 30% of the open-field yield and electricity output is 90% of a conventional plant's. Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Plot B has a higher LER than Plot A because its electricity output is higher.
  2. Plot B uses land more efficiently than growing the crop and generating the power on separate plots would.
  3. LER alone cannot show whether Plot B's crop loss is acceptable, because it adds relative crop yield and relative electricity output without weighing their importance.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q8. Consider the following assertion: Agrivoltaics can help reconcile India's expansion of solar capacity with the need to keep cropland in food production. Which of the statements given below support/supports the above assertion?

  1. Land under elevated or interspaced panels can remain under cultivation, so solar capacity is added without withdrawing that land from farming.
  2. Standalone solar pumps replace diesel pumps for irrigation, cutting farmers' fuel costs.
  3. A conventional ground-mounted solar plant generally produces more electricity per hectare than an agrivoltaic plot.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only