Dynamic variation and patterns of soil moisture in desert PV power station construction

Abstract

This study analyzes the dynamic variation and patterns of Soil Moisture (SM) content in Gonghe photovoltaic (PV) industrial park in Qinghai Province based on the measured data and discusses the impact of PV development on SM content and its effects. The results show that the PV panel has a humidification effect on the soil. The annual average SM content in the 10 cm layer under the fixed trackers (FIX) PV panel increases by 14.34%, and the SM under the Oblique Single-Axis (OSA) PV panel increases by 10.26%. The humidification effect of the fixed axis PV panel is greater than that of the inclined uniaxial PV panel. Different shading of PV panels will lead to significant spatial variation of SM, and the SM under and between PV panels is significantly different in vegetation growing season.