Environmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy

Abstract

Greenhouse gas emissions Land use and land cover change Photovoltaic Renewable energy a b s t r a c t Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, we review direct and indirect environmental impacts -both beneficial and adverse -of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change, soils, water resources, and human health. Additionally, we review feedbacks between USSE infrastructure and land-atmosphere interactions and the potential for USSE systems to mitigate climate change. Several characteristics and development strategies of USSE systems have low environmental impacts relative to other energy systems, including other renewables. We show opportunities to increase USSE environmental co-benefits, the permitting and regulatory constraints and opportunities of USSE, and highlight future research directions to better understand the nexus between USSE and the environment. Increasing the environmental compatibility of USSE systems will maximize the efficacy of this key renewable energy source in mitigating climatic and global environmental change.

Optimal site selection for sitting a solar park using multi-criteria decision analysis and geographical information systems

“…This is not surprising as the sun can provide more than 2500 terawatts (TW) of technically accessible energy over large areas of Earth's surface and solar energy technologies are no longer cost prohibitive (Hernandez et al, 2014). However, currently it only covers a minor portion of global energy demands (0.05 % of the total primary energy supply) as photovoltaic (PV) power generates less than 1 % of total electricity supply (Solangi et al, 2011); nevertheless, solar energy has great future potential.…”

“…The main direct or indirectly derived advantages of solar energy are no emission of greenhouse or toxic gasses, reclamation of degraded land, reduction of transmission lines from electricity grids, and increase of regional/national energy independence. In addition, it can provide diversification and security of the energy supply, acceleration of rural electrification in developing countries, job opportunities, improvement of life quality in developing countries, and investment security for park development as solar panels are resistant to extreme climate conditions with a life expectancy greater than 35 years (Solangi et al, 2011;Tsoutsos et al, 2005;Torres-Sibille et al, 2009;Hernandez et al, 2014). However, conflicts can also arise between renewable energy and nature conservation policy.…”

“…The worst impacts of groundmounted solar installations occur when all natural habitat in the vicinity is cleared, stripping vegetation and compacting soil. This can reduce the carbon content of the soil compared to undisturbed areas and, in arid regions, allows for the transport of dust, which can reduce the efficiency of solar panels (Hernandez et al, 2014). Other risks to wildlife from solar park operation include chemicals such as dust suppressants and rust inhibitors (Hernandez et al, 2014).…”

“…This can reduce the carbon content of the soil compared to undisturbed areas and, in arid regions, allows for the transport of dust, which can reduce the efficiency of solar panels (Hernandez et al, 2014). Other risks to wildlife from solar park operation include chemicals such as dust suppressants and rust inhibitors (Hernandez et al, 2014). Water is also used to clean the panels, which may pressurize scarce resources in dry regions (Cameron et al, 2012).…”

An Evolutionary-Based MPPT Algorithm for Photovoltaic Systems under Dynamic Partial Shading

“…Over the last two decades, worldwide solar photovoltaic (PV) installations have exponentially grown and their cost has significantly reduced due to the improvements in technology and the economies of scale. Besides direct economic and environmental advantages, the use of solar energy produces other indirect environmental and social benefits, such as the stabilization of degraded land, the increasing of energy independence, new job opportunities, acceleration of remote rural areas electrification, and improved quality of life in developing countries [1]. The environmental issues related to the installation of solar power facilities have been comprehensively addressed in [2]: more than thirty environmental impacts falling in the fields of land use intensity, human health and wellbeing, plant and animal life, geo-hydrological resources, and climate change.…”