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Scientific Reports (2026)
We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.
Agri-photovoltaic (Agri-PV) systems, which combine crop production with solar energy generation, are rapidly expanding across Europe, yet their implications for soil quality remain poorly understood. This study assessed soil compaction following the installation of an Agri-PV system in autumn 2024 on an Arenosol in Brandenburg, Germany. Bulk density (BD) and penetration resistance (PR) were measured across multiple depths after construction finalization. Both parameters were compared to a nearby reference and established agronomic thresholds. Subsoil BD in construction zones (1.67–1.69 g cm⁻³) exceeded root growth thresholds, while PR at mid-depth reached 3.7–4.1 MPa, surpassing the limit for root elongation. Our results align with literature indicating that Arenosols, due to their weak structure and lack of shrink-swell capacity, are highly vulnerable to persistent compaction. The observed compaction poses risks to rooting depth, water infiltration, and crop yield, underscoring the need for targeted mitigation measures. We suggest that pedological construction supervision should become standard practice for Agri-PV projects, ensuring soil protection measures are integrated into planning, construction, and restoration. More flexible policy frameworks and monitoring of soil recovery post-installation are needed for aligning renewable energy expansion with sustainable crop production.
We thank Björn Wang for the support to create the visualization Fig.8. We appreciate field and laboratory support for data collection by Felix Erbe, Christoph Möller, Kathleen Karges, Anna Jendro, Kritika Chouhan, Marcell Schmidt, Lars Richter and Torsten Schulz.
Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. The authors KG and LR acknowledge support from the German Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) for the Junior Research Group SoilRob, project ID 031B1391. This work has been partially funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy, EXC2070–390732324 – PhenoRob.
Resource-Efficient Cropping Systems, Research Area Land Use and Governance, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany
Kathrin Grahmann, Lina Rohlmann & Moritz Reckling
Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola e Solos, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia – UESB, Vitória da Conquista, Vitória da Conquista, BA, Brazil
Tatiana Reis dos Santos Bastos
Department of Landscape, Society, and Economy, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), Schicklerstraße 5, 16225, Eberswalde, Germany
Marco Donat
Provisioning of Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Systems, Land Use and Governance, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany
Marco Donat
Institute of Earth System Sciences, Section Soil Science, Leibniz University Hannover, 30419, Hannover, Germany
Lina Rohlmann
Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, 75007, Sweden
Moritz Reckling
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Correspondence to Kathrin Grahmann.
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Grahmann, K., Reis dos Santos Bastos, T., Donat, M. et al. Construction-induced soil compaction in agri-photovoltaic systems: evidence from an Arenosol. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-65268-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-65268-z
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