Environmental and Circular Economy Implications of Solar Energy in a Decarbonized U.S. Grid

Heath, Garvin; Ravikumar, Dwarakanath; Silvana, Ovaitt,; Walston, Leroy J.; Curtis, Taylor L.; Millstein, Dev; Mirletz, Heather; Hartmann, Heidi M.; McCall, James

doi:10.2172/1844985

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 146 publications

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“…The associated land area (estimated as about 165 million acres or 67 million ha) is <0.5% of global land mass, but also represents a significant opportunity for AV systems to provide ecosystem services in addition to energy production. Information on the total global amount of electricity generation from AV systems is lacking but recent estimates suggest there could be >2.8 GW of global electricity generation from AV-cropping systems (Gorjian et al, 2022), corresponding to ∼21,000 ac (8,500 ha) using land use assumptions from Heath et al (2022). There could be far greater global electricity generation from AV systems co-located with native habitat restoration.…”

Section: Ecosystem Service or Benefit Av Type A References Provisioni...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Utility-scale solar energy developments [ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) facilities >1MW] are expected to comprise the greatest portion of future solar electricity generation in the U.S. [U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 2021a] and considerable amounts of land will be needed to meet these projections. Globally, meeting net zero goals could require ∼135 million acres (55 million ha) of land for solar energy production by 2050, assuming a global increase in development to about 18 TW installed capacity [International Energy Agency (IEA), 2021] and solar energy land use of 7.5 ac/MW (3.0 ha/MW) (Heath et al, 2022). Some estimates are even higher -22 TW installed capacity by 2050, or about 165 million acres (67 million ha) (Fischer et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Walston

Barley

Bhandari

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Achieving decarbonization goals to address global climate change and increasing energy needs requires significant continued investments in solar energy. The expansion of utility-scale solar development across the globe has increased the pressure on land resources for energy generation and other land uses (e.g., agriculture, biodiversity conservation). To address this growing issue, greater emphasis has been placed on solar development strategies that maximize the benefits of solar energy generation and multiple ecosystem services, such as the development of agrivoltaics systems that co-locate solar energy production and various forms of conservation and agricultural land uses. The purpose of this paper is to systematically synthesize the potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics and summarize how these development strategies could address several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our review will focus on four broad potential ecosystem services of agrivoltaics: (1) energy and economic benefits; (2) agricultural provisioning services of food production and animal husbandry; (3) biodiversity conservation; and (4) regulating ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water and soil conservation. In particular, we will highlight the state of the science, challenges, and knowledge gaps that represent opportunities for further study to better understand how solar energy deployment can facilitate sustainable development.

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Section: Ecosystem Service or Benefit Av Type A References Provisioni...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Walston

Barley

Bhandari

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under the most aggressive deployment strategy, up to 10.3 million acres of land (0.5% of the US contiguous land area) for utility-scale solar may be needed by 2050 to meet the United States (US) decarbonization goals [1]. Although the percentage of total land area needed in the US for utility-scale solar is very low, solar site deployment can impact local communities and lead to land-use conflicts [1,2]. There is an opportunity to respond to community concerns and utilize land underneath solar arrays for other beneficial purposes, including establishing pollinator habitat to address multiple ecological challenges, such as declines in pollinator populations and the loss of prairie habitat [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little prairie under the panel: testing native pollinator habitat seed mix establishment at three utility-scale solar sites in Minnesota

McCall,

Beatty,

Janski

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Commun.

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As more land is being utilized for large-scale solar energy projects, there are increasing discussions from stakeholders on how to utilize land under solar panels to promote biodiversity. One path is to plant habitat beneficial to pollinators and other insects, but there have been few long-term studies that examine how different vegetation and seed mixes establish underneath solar panels. This study addresses a scientific gap to determine whether native pollinator seed mixes successfully establish over time under solar arrays using a systematic assessment of eight seed mixes planted at three utility-scale solar sites in Minnesota. We assess establishment with a percent native coverage metric, which is an assessment of native species observations compared to total observations during percent cover analyses in our vegetative test plots. The percent native coverage metric allows for a measurement of how the seed mix established and how the seed mix persists over time. The percent native coverage under and in between the solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays rose from 10% after one year of planting to 58% after three years across all sites, while the native coverage of the full sun control area rose from 9.6% to 70% under the same period, showing that native prairie and pollinator plants successfully established under the array, although to a lesser extent than in full sun conditions. Percent native coverage under the PV arrays rose 5- to 8-fold for each of the three sites from over the course of the study, while the coverage of weeds decreased for all three sites over the same period. Percent native coverage varied by seed mix over the project years, but every seed mix experienced a higher percent native coverage year after year under the PV arrays. Our results did not indicate a difference in establishment across placement within the array; the center, west, and east portions of the areas in between panels had similar establishment rates at two out of three sites, indicating that the same seed mix can be applied throughout the array. Out of 101 plant species seeded, we observed the establishment of 68 species in our vegetative test plots, and we detailed the top 20 observed species to inform future seed mix development. Based on these findings, native pollinator vegetation can establish over time at solar arrays, and it can be suitable for creating habitat at utility-scale solar sites.

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“…Consistent with concerns raised in other rural communities, the agricultural community in Jackson County, Illinois is hesitant to install ground-based photovoltaic (PV) systems on prime agricultural land (Heath et al 2022). Farmland is often flat, geotechnically stable, and has ample sunlight that makes these lands favorable to solar development (Adeh et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Feasibility Assessment of Agrivoltaics in Jackson County, IL

McCall,

Staie,

Carron

et al. 2024

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Environmental and Circular Economy Implications of Solar Energy in a Decarbonized U.S. Grid

Cited by 10 publications

References 146 publications

Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Opportunities for agrivoltaic systems to achieve synergistic food-energy-environmental needs and address sustainability goals

Little prairie under the panel: testing native pollinator habitat seed mix establishment at three utility-scale solar sites in Minnesota

Initial Feasibility Assessment of Agrivoltaics in Jackson County, IL

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