Grapevines under solar panels grew longer shoots in a hot Puglia summer

Grapevines growing under solar panels at Vigna Agrivoltaica di Comunità in Laterza, Puglia, put out much longer shoots than vines in full sun during a hot Mediterranean summer. pv magazine reported the measurements on October 2, 2026, from a paper in Scientia Horticulturae. Giuseppe Ferrara of the University of Bari and his colleagues found shoots of 115.8 centimetres in full sun, against 268 to 274 centimetres under low or high shade. Bunches in the deepest shade weighed 164.9 grams, compared with 65.4 grams in the open. Sugar fell from 25.8 degrees Brix in full sun to 22.9 under high shade, a mix of dilution and slower ripening. Acidity barely moved. Air under the panels was about 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius cooler, and humidity was 2 to 14 percent higher.

Wild plants also did better in the shade. The team recorded more clover, common sowthistle, plantain, tassel hyacinth, and alfalfa. Soil bacteria and soil animals were not part of this study. The vines are rain-fed, with only limited emergency irrigation. Ferrara said the pattern belongs to hot, dry summers in Puglia, not to every wine region. Earlier work in Valpolicella found higher production outside the panels. Shade here was a help in one climate, and a tradeoff for sweetness, not a universal farming method.