Electricity on the Moor

July 23, 2026

Source: E & M powernews

A new guide from Fraunhofer ISE summarizes the state of the art in peatland photovoltaics and provides recommendations.

According to a research consortium, peatland photovoltaics (peatland PV) can combine the rewetting of degraded peatlands with electricity generation from photovoltaics. A guide recently published by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and its partners summarizes the current state of knowledge and provides recommendations for the planning, implementation, maintenance, and decommissioning of such systems. It is aimed at project developers, agricultural businesses, government agencies, and other interested parties.

Moor-PV refers to the use of so-called degraded peatlands for electricity generation via photovoltaic systems while simultaneously ensuring the permanent rewetting of the areas. According to the Fraunhofer ISE, approximately 70 percent of Germany’s originally intact peatlands have been drained to make them suitable for agricultural use.

Such damaged—“degraded”—peatland soils are major sources of emissions. According to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), emissions from peatlands in 2020—amounting to approximately 53 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents—accounted for more than 7 percent of total emissions in Germany.

This is caused by oxygen, which, following drainage, leads to the decomposition of dead plant matter trapped in the peat soil. Compared to the slow formation of the peat body, in which carbon was sequestered over millennia, the decomposition process occurs much more rapidly, and the stored carbon is released in the form of CO₂, the UBA writes on its website,

The more a bog has been drained, the higher the emissions from that area, the website continues. For example, emissions from bog soils used as farmland are particularly high, at approximately 40 metric tons of CO2 equivalents per hectare per year. But even drained peatlands used for forestry or for no specific purpose emit more than 20 metric tons of CO2 equivalents per hectare per year. Intact peatlands, on the other hand, can sequester additional carbon from the atmosphere as the peat layer grows.

Combining Climate Protection with Additional Revenue

Since 2023, the German federal government has been providing subsidies under the Renewable Energy Sources Act for electricity production on rewetted peatlands that were previously drained for agricultural purposes. The combination of rewetting and photovoltaics could generate additional revenue for farms and landowners while simultaneously reducing land-use pressure associated with the expansion of renewable energy, according to the authors of the new guide.

However, intact peatland areas must continue to be protected: “It is important to develop only drained and heavily degraded areas for the dual use of peatlands and photovoltaics,” says PD Dr. Franziska Tanneberger, director of the Greifswald Moor Centrum and a researcher at the University of Greifswald. “Bogs and peatlands of high conservation value within legally protected areas should be excluded.”

In addition to Fraunhofer ISE, the Greifswald Moor Centrum, Humboldt University of Berlin, Georg-August University of Göttingen, and the law firm Becker Büttner Held (BBH) were involved in drafting the guide. (kmt)

The PDF of the guide“Moor-PV: Double Climate Protection through Photovoltaic Systems on Rewetted Moor Soils”is available on the Fraunhofer ISE website.

Author: Katia Meyer-Tien