EGU2020-8452
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-8452
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Local microclimatic impacts of utility scale photovoltaic solar parks

Alona Armstrong1,2, Rebecca R Hernandez3,4, George A Blackburn2, Gemma Davies2, Merryn Hunt2, James D Whyatt2, and Li Guoqing2,5
Alona Armstrong et al.
  • 1Energy Lancaster, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YF, United Kingdom (a.armstrong@lancaster.ac.uk)
  • 2Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA14YQ, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Land, Air & Water Resources, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
  • 4Wild Energy Initiative, John Muir Institute of the Environment, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
  • 5School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong Province, 264025, China

Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity has risen exponentially, with the majority deployed as ground-mounted solar parks, across the world. Deployments are projected to continue, leading to further land use change with implications for the hosting environment, including perturbations in ecological processes that underpin the supply of natural capital and ecosystem services. Whilst alterations to within solar park climate of magnitudes known to effect ecosystems processes have been quantified, the spatial extent remains unclear. In this study, we use remote sensing and field data to provide evidence of a solar park land surface temperature (LST) cool island. Specifically, we quantify a LST cooling of up to 2.3 ℃ outside the solar park boundary, with the effect declining rapidly with distance from the solar park but extending up to 730 m away. The magnitude of cooling observed is sufficient to alter ecosystem processes, including greenhouse gas emissions with implications for the carbon intensity of the electricity produced. Consequently, we need to better understand the local climatic impacts of solar parks and associated cascading impacts on ecosystem function to establish the broader environmental co-benefits and costs of this rapidly growing means of low carbon electricity production.

How to cite: Armstrong, A., Hernandez, R. R., Blackburn, G. A., Davies, G., Hunt, M., Whyatt, J. D., and Guoqing, L.: Local microclimatic impacts of utility scale photovoltaic solar parks , EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-8452, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-8452, 2020

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