In order to investigate the effects of establishment of photovoltaic (PV) panels on field illumination conditions and sweet potato growth in an agro-photovoltaic integrating system, we used wooden boards to simulate the PV panel construction. The simulated PV assembly had a set of standard parameters, which were an average height of 1.6 m, a slope of 22°, a width of 3 m and a length of 9 m. A two-year field experiment was carried out, and three sweet potato cultivars of “Xinxiang” (Xx) , “Zheshu 13” (ZS 13) and “Zheshu 77” (ZS 77) were planted under the PV panel shading and CK (without PV panels) treatments. The results showed that under the sunny weather condition, the illumination intensity was 80-400 μmol/(m²?s), which was higher than the light compensation point of the tested cultivars and slightly lower than the light saturation point of Xx and ZS 13. The variation of field light intensity in cloudy days of summer and autumn was similar to that in the sunny days. The light intensity of observation points under the PV panel shading treatment in rainy days was only slightly higher than the light compensation point of the tested cultivars. At the same light intensity, the net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance of sweet potato leaves under the shading treatment decreased significantly, and the intercellular CO₂ concentration increased significantly. After the PV panel shading treatment, the maximum leaf area per plant decreased significantly, and the leaf area of Xx, ZS 13 and ZS 77 decreased by 18.94%, 45.54% and 56.26%, respectively. The leaf mass of per area for the three cultivars also decreased significantly. The dry matter accumulation trend of the three cultivars after shading treatment was the same as that of the CK, but the total amount decreased significantly. Compared with the CK, the yield of sweet potato per unit area decreased by 39.25%, 33.70% and 23.60% for Xx, ZS13 and ZS 77, respectively, but the total yield of Xx was still the highest under the shading treatment. In summary, the agro-photovoltaic integrating system formed by the construction of photovoltaic panels in the farmland has some adverse effects on the field light intensity and sweet potato growth, but the economic benefits per unit area are greatly increased. Thus, the crop yield can be increased by increasing density of sweet potato seedlings and reasonable fertilizer, and the agro-photovoltaic integrating system has a good prospect of popularization.