How Do You Build a Solar Farm That Protects the Land It’s On?

Solar farms help generate large amounts of solar energy, reducing the harmful environmental impacts of nonrenewable energy sources. However, there is growing concern about how solar farms negatively affect farmland. People are developing ways to combat these issues and create more sustainable solar farm practices.

Key Benefits of Solar Farms

There are many benefits to implementing solar farms. They lower greenhouse gas emissions, sometimes more than trees do, and require a lower financial investment than traditional energy sources. Because companies pay farmers to use their land for solar farms, they also keep farms functioning during unstable economic times.

Challenges to Consider When Implementing Solar Farms

One concern about solar farms is that they could displace prime farmland. If there is less land for agriculture, jobs could disappear, and workers could be displaced. 

Solar farms can also cause significant issues for animals. The reflective surface of the panels mimics the appearance of water. This creates polarized light pollution that confuses bird migration patterns. The fences that surround solar farms also prevent the migration of land animals. In desert farms, bats might lose their habitat, leading to increased mortality among the species.

Others believe solar farms will end agricultural practices altogether. This is a bleak outlook, but companies are offering larger incentives to farmers with viable land. The concern is that if enough farmers agree to these deals, there will be no land left for future generations.

Pollution is another growing concern. The facilities that run solar farms contain cooling oils. If oil-filled transformers leak, they risk polluting the surrounding environment, harming wildlife and crop yields, and potentially impacting human health. 

How to Protect Solar Farm Land

While these are genuine concerns about solar farms, people are developing ways to operate them more sustainably. Below are a few key strategies.

Consider Alternative Locations

The easiest way to mitigate the negative impacts of solar farms is to consider different locations for their installation. Rooftop panels on homes are beneficial for individual use. On a larger scale, warehouse roofs and high solar panels over parking lots are potential solutions.

Make Adjustments

Companies can make adjustments to solar farm technology to benefit the local wildlife. Holes in the fences surrounding the panels allow animals to migrate freely. Nano-coating the panels reduces their reflectivity and helps prevent confusion among birds.

Contain Oil Spills

Companies must develop a secondary oil spill containment plan to prevent potential spills from spreading and harming wildlife. If a facility has over 1,320 gallons of oil, it must have a contingency plan, as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure regulation. Having a separate tank for oil to bleed into in the event of a spill helps contain the situation, preventing it from causing more significant issues. 

Utilize Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics is a practice in which farmers plant crops beneath solar panels to maximize land-use efficiency. Some even host sheep or goats to maintain the ecosystem. Other farms preserve native plants underneath the panels to enrich the natural wildlife if they do not want to farm the land.

The panels themselves can help agriculture. Adjustable solar panels shade plants against harsh sunny days and protect them from significant rain or hailstorms. Farms can tilt or lay them down flat depending on their needs. Perovskite photovoltaics are semi-transparent panels that allow sunlight to pass directly through them to plants.

Choose Land Carefully

Companies and farms must work together to select land for solar farms carefully. They should avoid prime productive land that consistently delivers the best crop yields. Additionally, corn fields and certain other crops do not work well with solar panels. 

Contaminated land is the easiest area to utilize. Solar farms can eliminate invasive species that previously hurt the territory. Dry, plant-free areas are another good spot to consider. Anywhere that is unsuitable for agriculture is ideal for installing solar farms with minimal environmental risk.

Balancing Progress and Preservation

Solar farms help the environment by producing renewable energy that lowers pollution. To create sustainable solar farms that do not harm crop yields or the surrounding environment, companies and farms must adopt the strategies outlined above. 

By prioritizing dual-use solutions such as agrivoltaics and carefully selecting locations, solar energy development can complement rather than compete with agricultural productivity. Ultimately, a thoughtful, holistic approach to solar farm implementation will be crucial to achieving a truly sustainable energy future.