The fields of photovoltaic panels, or “solar farms”, are sometimes implicated in the fall in biodiversity in the countryside, because it is very often vast areas that have had to be deforested. What if the solar power industry might actually reduce its impact on the environment by creating islands for wildlife?
Solutions that are part of renewable energy production strategies have well-known benefits on global CO2 emissions2. But, to be truly sustainable, they should have little negative effect on the environment and the human populations involved in their development. A researcher from theUniversity of New EnglandEric Nordberg, was interested in the impact that these fields of panels can have in Australia, where solar farms are in full expansion.
Typically, the establishment of these facilities is accompanied by a decline in agricultural production, as arable land is no longer available, and a degradation of the habitat of wild fauna and flora. An innovation has already been experimented with in agriculture: the establishment of “agrivoltaic” fields, where the land is used both to place solar panels and to plant crops or graze livestock.
The inclusion of renewable energies in their environment
Nordberg’s work aimed to determine whether fields of photovoltaic panels might follow this same model and be useful for the protection of biodiversity. It was necessary to identify which wild animal and plant species occupy the solar farms and how, and at what speed they recolonize this territory. This made it possible to know their needs and to adapt the various possible solutions. For wildlife to settle permanently in a new habitat, it must be able to feed, rest, shelter from predators and climatic conditions, and reproduce.
Precisely, the panels can be transformed into perches and nesting boxes, as well as shelter for animals once morest their predators, and once morest the elements, a bit like artificial reefs. The panels also create areas of light and shadow, which complicates the micro-habitats and favors a rich and diversified fauna and flora. Such a vegetated area can also serve as an ecological corridor that allows wildlife to move.
Good practices for biodiversity
Some practices, which can be applied in our gardens, improve the results with wildlife. For example, it is advisable to sow various species of flowering plants to encourage pollinators, to reduce the mowing of grass between the panels, to reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides, and to connect solar farms to other vegetation zones.
