As one of the most equitable and highly-customizable sources of renewable power, solar energy must be deployed with urgency in order to achieve the recommendations of groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”). But in the rush to deploy solar energy as quickly as possible, developers must be wary of excessive tree clearing or otherwise destroying the natural environment in order to build solar systems.
The space requirements of ground-mounted solar panels are such that if the United States were to meet all of its energy needs through the production of solar energy, it would demand 0.5% of the land area of the country, equivalent to 10.3 million acres.¹ A troubling consequence is that this space could end up being provided at the expense of pristine natural environments. Woodlands could be—and have been—cleared to make way for solar panels. Sixty-nine percent of all forest loss in the State of Rhode Island is due to solar development;² 150,000 acres of forest in Massachusetts could be lost as the state seeks to meet its climate goals;³ and in Maryland, concerns over land usage are leading counties to limit solar development⁴—in the middle of a climate crisis.
It is also a concern whenever solar arrays are placed on land that has other viable economic uses, such as farmland. Repurposing that land for solar energy can increase competition for limited space, encouraging further encroachment into the natural environment. To avoid this negative externality, solar developers like Ecogy are utilizing creative means to responsibly construct solar photovoltaic arrays.
Building on Brownfields
One way of limiting encroachment into the natural environment is to construct solar on brownfields, which are contaminated lands often unsuitable for other types of development. Solar developments are ideal on these properties because solar energy is economically and environmentally beneficial without requiring much in-person human management. Ecogy’s Wilmington Housing Authority project in Delaware is one example of a project located on a brownfield. The project reduces energy costs for the residents of multiple high rises which otherwise could not accommodate solar.
Ecogy’s Wilmington Housing Authority solar array, located on a brownfield.
Building on Water
A relatively new method of deploying solar without endangering forests is to make use of bodies of water, ideally those that are man-made and stagnant, such as reservoirs. There are few other productive uses for the surface area of reservoirs, and floating (but anchored) solar panels additionally help reduce evaporation and can potentially counteract toxic algae blooms.
A floating solar array in New Jersey. Ciel & Terre USA.
Building with Farms
Constructing solar alongside or above agricultural lands also doesn’t increase competition for land. This practice is known as agrivoltaics. Certain agricultural activities can continue virtually unimpeded even with the addition of stilted solar panels, allowing landowners to profit from both the proceeds of a solar system and from agricultural activity. Recent research from Cornell shows that agrivoltaics has the additional benefit of increasing the efficiency of the solar panels hosted on agricultural land. The crops and the soil below the panels provide a high cooling effect that allows the panels to operate more efficiently in hot weather. Additionally, some developers are hosting colonies of threatened pollinators and native wildflowers among their solar fields.
An agrivoltaic system. Insolight.
Solar on the Built Environment
Like other methods of responsible solar siting, placing solar above buildings and parking lots reduces the environmental impact of constructing solar systems.
There are a series of additional benefits to developing solar on the built environment. Perhaps most significantly, developing solar on the built environment generally reduces the distance that the energy has to travel from the site of production to the site of its consumption. Reservoirs, brownfields, and agricultural lands may be far removed from dense centers of population that have high energy demands. On the other hand, solar electricity produced on rooftops can often be fully consumed by the building on which it is located, or communities nearby. This usually reduces the final cost of the electricity that the solar system will provide.
Ecogy’s University of Florida system.
Yet another advantage of producing solar energy on the built environment is that flat surfaces are ideal for solar development, and most rooftops in the commercial & industrial (C&I) space, which are large and usually located near operations with high energy demand, are perfectly flat. In many cases, rooftop solar does not even need to be racked: it can simply be ballasted, or just weighed down on the rooftop. From an aesthetic perspective, too, solar on the built environment is superior. Unless you’re like us, and you enjoy looking at handsome solar arrays, rooftop solar has the added advantage of being invisible to most passers-by, who might consider ground-mounted systems an eyesore.
Ecogy’s Maryknoll parking lot canopy in Westchester, NY.
Although solar on the built environment has its advantages, it is not always the cheapest way to go about providing solar power to communities. Sometimes, the expedient route for developers to take is simply to utilize pristine natural environments like woodlands or grasslands without consideration for the environmental consequences. It is the role of regulators to incentivize the responsible placement of solar arrays. There have been many successful state programs in the United States that have done just that.
One, for example, is the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program in Massachusetts, which encourages developers to site their projects on brownfields, landfills, rooftops, and the like. Another example is New Jersey’s June 2021 act which mandates that all newly-constructed warehouses over 100,000 square feet in size reserve up to 40% of their rooftop space for solar. And a recently proposed bill in Rhode Island would require almost all new construction to be outfitted with solar panels. Policies like these spur climate action and energy savings while minimizing the risk of further degrading the environment.
Ecogy’s Windsor system, hosted by 30 Cutler in Warren, RI.
Constructing solar arrays on the built environment is one of Ecogy’s specialities. Click here to peruse our full portfolio.
Contact us if you’re interested in being paid to host solar on your rooftop, parking lot, or brownfield.
Sources Cited:
¹ https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/Solar%20Futures%20Study.pdf
² https://ecori.org/leveling-forests-for-solar-advocates-for-green-energy-square-off-over-trees-vs-panels/
³ https://www.massaudubon.org/content/download/41477/1007612/file/Losing-Ground-VI_2020_final.pdf
⁴ https://thedailyrecord.com/2021/07/23/maryland-counties-grapple-with-controlling-growth-of-solar-farms/