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Open research questions in Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability

148 gap statements mined from Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,014 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • The study identifies the challenge of balancing environmental objectives with the need to strengthen the structural resilience of supply chains. The analysis highlights the challenge of evaluating the environmental sustainability of supply chain scenarios. The study notes the challenge of reducing environmental impacts in supply chain management.

    Geo-spatial prospective life cycle sustainability of InGaN and InGaP compound semiconductors · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for further research on the integration of solar production with agriculture.

    Impacts of a Vertical Bifacial Agrivoltaics System on Field Corn in Northern Colorado, USA · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to adopt farming methods that use resources efficiently and support long-term sustainability. Traditional irrigation methods often lead to overwatering and unnecessary water loss.

    Agrivoltaic System Designing for Sustainability and Smart Irrigation · 2026 · DOI

  • Curtailment and industrial load-matching limitations that can suppress apparent performance indicators. Regulatory and operational constraints that govern the performance of grid-tied solar PV systems. The need to integrate solar PV planning with factory load analysis and energy management strategies to maximize utilization and economic benefit.

    Performance Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Integration in Liquid Carton Packaging Manufacturing · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of understanding of the ecological effects of utility-scale solar development and land use. The study addresses this gap by assessing the soil health impacts of utility-scale solar development on agricultural land.

    Solar energy transitions on agricultural land: soil health impacts from site construction and on-site sheep grazing · 2026 · DOI

  • The need to decouple the initial identification of PV sites from the precise extraction of panel footprints to improve accuracy.

    Coal plants persist as a large barrier to the global solar energy transition · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a global, facility-level dataset of PV facilities and energy generation and losses from clouds and aerosols. The need to investigate the impact of aerosol pollution from coal plants on solar photovoltaic energy production.

    Coal plants persist as a large barrier to the global solar energy transition · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of how to integrate photovoltaic generation with agricultural production in a way that is both technically and economically viable.

    Agrisolar - Application of photovoltaic technologies in agriculture · 2026 · DOI

  • Considering the gaps in the literature on BICPV LCA, the purpose of this study is to assess the eco-profile of an innovative BICPV system (solar glazing—atrium) with two optical materials and micro-tracking, extending the previous work on the design/performance of this solar system.

    The Environmental Profile of a Building-Integrated Concentrating Photovoltaic System with Hexagonal Concentrators and Micro-Tracking: Embodied Energy and Other Indicators · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper highlights the need for responsible waste management to minimize environmental impacts.

    Waste Management as a Key to the Sustainability of Low-Carbon Energy Sources—A State-of-the-Art Review · 2026 · DOI

  • It also mentions the need for efficient and sustainable agricultural practices in AVS.

    Optimizing Fertilizer Use and Planting Density for Lowland Rice Production in Agrivoltaic Systems · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of information on suitable cereal cropping practices for the AVS. The study aims to address this gap by investigating the effects of fertilizer rate and planting density on lowland rice in the AVS.

    Optimizing Fertilizer Use and Planting Density for Lowland Rice Production in Agrivoltaic Systems · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on developing more comprehensive and integrated models that consider the economic, social, and environmental implications of circular economy strategies. Future research should explore the application of the study's methodology to other renewable energy technologies.

    Dynamic and probabilistic material flow analysis for circular economy strategies in the photovoltaic sector · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for a comprehensive analysis of the material flows and waste generation in the photovoltaic sector.

    Dynamic and probabilistic material flow analysis for circular economy strategies in the photovoltaic sector · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should investigate the use of agrivoltaics in other types of farming and renewable energy systems. Future research should consider the economic and social implications of agrivoltaics systems.

    Improving the Land Use Efficiency of Farmland by Using Agrivoltaics · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to investigate the use of agrivoltaics to improve land use efficiency in tomato farming. There is a lack of understanding of the benefits and limitations of agrivoltaics systems in rural Southern Africa.

    Improving the Land Use Efficiency of Farmland by Using Agrivoltaics · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on addressing the technical, economic, environmental, and policy-related challenges facing renewable energy systems. The integration of Industry 4.0 technologies and artificial intelligence in renewable energy deployment should be further explored. The development of sustainable manufacturing systems that incorporate renewable energy technologies is a key area for future research.

    Renewable Energy and Sustainability: A Critical Review of Technologies, Environmental Benefits, and Future Development Pathways · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need for a comprehensive review of renewable energy technologies and their sustainability contributions. The paper aims to address this gap by examining the role of renewable energy in promoting sustainability.

    Renewable Energy and Sustainability: A Critical Review of Technologies, Environmental Benefits, and Future Development Pathways · 2026 · DOI

  • The study applies a scenario-based prospective approach in which electricity-mix decarbonisation is treated as the primary driver of temporal change. Other factors, such as potential future process innovations, changes in tool efficiency, material substitutions, or shifts in production yields, are held constant.

    Geo-spatial prospective life cycle sustainability of InGaN and InGaP compound semiconductors · 2026 · DOI

  • Results from 2024 indicate there may be a small numerical increase in silage and grain yield on the western side of the panels, although it was not significant in this single year of data collection.

    Impacts of a Vertical Bifacial Agrivoltaics System on Field Corn in Northern Colorado, USA · 2026 · DOI

  • The NDVI plant health sensor monitoring system is integrated to detect crop stress and guide irrigation decisions, but the paper does not establish the temporal resolution (hourly, daily, weekly measurements) required to detect early stress symptoms in paddy crops, nor does it validate NDVI-based irrigation triggers against conventional or manual irrigation scheduling methods in agrivoltaic environments.

    Agrivoltaic System Designing for Sustainability and Smart Irrigation · 2026 · DOI

  • The study has a limited two-year study period. The study selected soil metrics that are highly sensitive to changes in management to better detect early trend signals.

    Solar energy transitions on agricultural land: soil health impacts from site construction and on-site sheep grazing · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research is needed to investigate the impact of regulatory and operational constraints on solar PV system performance, - studies should examine the effectiveness of different energy management strategies in maximizing solar PV system utilization, - research should explore the application of solar PV systems in other energy-intensive manufacturing…

    Performance Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Integration in Liquid Carton Packaging Manufacturing · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research on advanced recycling and material substitution methods, - Investigation of the economic and environmental impacts of different waste management strategies, - Development of more efficient recycling technologies for PV cells and other low-carbon energy…

    Waste Management as a Key to the Sustainability of Low-Carbon Energy Sources—A State-of-the-Art Review · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited applicability of floating solar systems to calm water bodies - High maintenance costs of solar panels on water bodies - Potential environmental impacts of floating solar…

    Floating solar photovoltaics in Greece. A SWOT analysis · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability

Most recent work

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) There is a need to adopt farming methods that use resources efficiently and support long-term sustainability (“Agrivoltaic System Designing for Sustainability and Smart Irrigation”, 2026); (2) There is a lack of understanding of the ecological effects of utility-scale solar development and land use (“Solar energy transitions on agricultural land: soil health impacts from site…”, 2026); (3) The lack of a global, facility-level dataset of PV facilities and energy generation and losses from clouds and aerosols (“Coal plants persist as a large barrier to the global solar energy transition”, 2026); (4) There is a lack of information on suitable cereal cropping practices for the AVS (“Optimizing Fertilizer Use and Planting Density for Lowland Rice Production in…”, 2026); (5) Future research should focus on developing more comprehensive and integrated models that consider the economic, social, and environmental implications of circular economy strategies (“Dynamic and probabilistic material flow analysis for circular economy…”, 2026). 148 gap statements have been mined from Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,014 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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