Agrivoltaics for Rural Development: Energy Security, Crop Diversification, and Sustainability on Mexican Rainfed Maize Farms.

Resource availability, poverty, and underdevelopment are bottlenecks of modernization in rural communities. This study proposes a rural electrification and development strategy through deploying agrivoltaics (AV) systems on rainfed maize farms in rural Mexico. As an alternative to maize monoculture, we proposed lettuce, tomato, spinach, and potato in a crop rotation system. The strategy was evaluated through techno-economic and sustainability assessments under different adoption scenarios (5%, 10%, and 15% conversion rates of rainfed maize fields) and household energy demand profiles. Under the baseline energy demand growth rate, the results demonstrate that AV adoption can substantially enhance the net present value (NPV) of the studied municipality. Specifically, compared to the business-as-usual scenario's value of 86.7 million MXN, NPV increases to 162.4, 230.0, and 297.4 million MXN under the 5%, 10%, and 15% AV adoption scenarios, respectively, driven by the combined revenues generated from power sales and agricultural production. The photovoltaic component generates clean energy with a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 837 MXN/MWh (47.4 USD/MWh), while diversifying the cropping system enhances resilience against market and climate shocks.