A growing awareness of the environment and concern about global warming has helped accelerate the transition away fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources. The environment-friendly source of renewable power, solar energy, is well-known. Even though its positive impacts can be outweighed by its negative effects, solar energy facilities can still negatively impact the environment. This includes local wildlife and water supplies.
Utility-scale solar facilities often use equipment made in fossil fuel plants, which releases hazardous fumes and pollutants into the air. They also use water to cool turbine generators. Excessive use of water puts strain on the limited water supply in arid regions. Solar installations can sometimes pollute groundwater, which can lead to a decrease in water supply. Solar panels that are not properly disposed of can release heavy metals into the atmosphere and water. Solar farms can also affect wildlife by reducing land cover and impacting the biodiversity.
Indirect environmental impacts aside, solar power systems may also impact the land through manufacturing extraction and disposal. When built on forested land, solar facilities can destroy vegetation and decimate trees. This can have a negative impact on wildlife and put endangered species in danger.
Solar developers do impact assessments to determine the best mitigation strategies and reduce environmental damage. In addition to evaluating the designs and strategies of sites, they seek input from regulators and host communities to ensure compliance with relevant federal, state, and local laws. They also aim to identify healthy ecosystems near the sites.
SETO is a non profit organization that coordinates scientific studies on the interactions between wildlife, solar energy facilities, and other natural phenomena. SETO is a non-profit organization that funds projects. It also encourages sharing information among all stakeholders. These are solar companies, academics and environmental non-profit groups. SETO created a request of information (RFI), which collects responses from stakeholders about solar effects on wildlife and ecosystems. SETO's RFI summary outlines responses from stakeholders in 2021.
SETO is also developing design elements to enable recycling of PV modules. This is a major challenge as the industry is not prepared to deal with the problem. Insufficient recycling can result from insufficient awareness of solar panels' environmental effects. Additionally, limited recycling could lead to limited resources in future.
SETO is also working to improve the compatibility of solar development with agricultural landscapes. InSPIRE is a research program that studies the compatibility of solar technology with agricultural landscapes across the United States.
The AgriSolar Clearinghouse provides a public communication channel for agrivoltaics. It also serves as a relationship-building resource for industry and government stakeholders, including universities, the agriculture industry, and environmental non-profits.
The Avian-Solar Multi-Agency Collaborative Working Group is a group of scientists and other experts from academic institutions and solar companies who work to assess solar impacts on avian species. They are committed to improving the science of solar energy's impact on avian populations. SETO funds research on pollinator habitats.