What are the challenges and opportunities in implementing Taiwan's aquavoltaics policy? A roadmap for achieving symbiosis between small-scale aquaculture and photovoltaics

Highlights: • The aquavoltaics policy is an opportunity for Taiwan's renewable energy development. • This study analysed the effects of aquavoltaics policy on the aquaculture industry. • The findings could provide solutions to alleviate the anxiety of stakeholders. • Effective communications are needed to integrate stakeholders' opinions. • Community involvement might be a key solution to accelerate aquavoltaics development. The Taiwan government has initiated multiple renewable energy development projects in recent years, one of which involved the use of photovoltaics (PVs) as a source of renewable energy. Given the limited land resources in Taiwan, the government introduced an aquavoltaics policy that was aimed at slowing the reduction in aquaculture production and increasing non-farming production benefits for small-scale aquaculture farmers without compromising the country's industrial development. However, when this policy took effect, landowners began exploiting fishpond areas, which adversely impacted fishpond prices and preyed on farmers, tenants, and the environment, in addition to affecting the sustainable development of aquaculture. To meet the research purpose, this study explores, assesses, and analyses the effects of the aquavoltaics policy on Taiwan's aquaculture industry. The results show that different stakeholders had dissimilar views on the aquavoltaics policy. The research findings are expected to expedite the integration of different opinions with the implementation of renewable energy policies. The government sector should also effectively communicate the aquavoltaics policy to various stakeholders and help them to adopt the policy to reduce operational risks for aquaculture farmers and simultaneously facilitate the sustainable development of aquaculture and thereby make Taiwan's small-scale aquaculture farming system a model of energy transition.