Ground-mounted solar panels can contribute a lot of new electricity.
The first large-scale facility in Norway was put into operation in Stor-Elvdal municipality in 2023. There are now six solar power plants in the country, and interest is growing. Around 70 applications are currently under consideration by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE).
Ground-mounted solar power has about half the energy cost compared to solar power mounted on rooftops, according to NVE.
The drawback? They take up space.
Clearing and flattening forested land leads to greenhouse gas emissions and reduces habitats for animals, plants, and insects. It may also interfere with local outdoor recreation.
To tackle this, researchers have launched a major project to explore how solar power can be expanded in a way that respects the environment and ecosystems.
Getting ahead of the curve
The project is called EnviSol and runs from 2024 to 2027. It was Heine Nygard Riise at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) who came up with the idea.
"It started when we saw international reports suggesting that it's possible to use solar power plants in ways that benefit biodiversity," he says.
Riise and his colleagues noticed a surge in solar project applications in Norway.
"We realised we needed to get ahead of this trend and start developing knowledge that can guide the early stages of development," he says.
Heine Nygard Riise is a senior researcher at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE).(Photo: Pixel & Co)
The goal of the project is to show the impact solar power plants have on Norwegian nature and find solutions that reduce this impact.
Create a flower meadow between the panels?
The project is led by IFE and includes many research partners. The researchers have conducted field studies at four of the facilities in Norway and will continue to monitor them going forward.
Examples of environmentally friendly choices include creating wildlife corridors through the facility. The site can be divided in a way that allows people or animals to move through it.
The sites can also be adapted to support plant growth and attract pollinators.
"There's a lot that can be done that's beneficial and doesn't necessarily have to cost much," says Riise.
One idea is to plant wildflower meadows between the solar panels. The contrast between sunny areas and shaded spots behind the panels can create a favourable habitat for insects. Riise cites a 2021 review study supporting this.
Annonse
"Most of these reports come from Europe, where the climate is sunnier, the ecosystems are different, and there’s more farmland. So it’s not a given that the same findings apply to Norway,” he says.
At one Norwegian solar park, researchers have planted bird’s-foot trefoil as part of an experiment. Cameras are monitoring how many insects visit.
Levelling destroys nature
So far, the project's findings suggest that groundwork plays a major role in how solar developments impact nature.
"If you have to level the area and destroy what's already there, that's not ideal. It's common to bring in bulldozers and flatten the site. But if you want to consider nature, you should think carefully before doing that," says Riise.
Erlend Hustad Honningdalsnes, PhD candidate in the EnviSol project, during fieldwork at Vikersund solar park.(Photo: Erlend Hustad Honningdalsnes)
If levelling is necessary, one idea is to plan for the park to also function as grazing land, says Torunn Kjeldstad, head of the solar energy research department at IFE.
"In Europe, it's quite common to combine grazing land with ground-mounted solar power," she says.
Using the land for multuple purposes – so-called dual use – is definitely the preferred approach, Riise adds.
Can improve growing conditions
"One emerging trend in Europe is the combination of solar power and agricultural land," says Torunn Kjeldstad.
This could be a viable solution in Norway. A study within the project shows that solar panels can influence crop growth in fields.
More shade is generally negative, but when wind is also considered, solar panels can have an overall positive effect on plant growth.
Vertical solar panels can reduce wind, which in turn can create better growing conditions. The study has been submitted to a journal but has not yet been published.
Placement and panel type matter
As mentioned, shade is a key factor in how much impact solar installations have on nature.
There are several ways the solar panels can be positioned. They can be tilted towards each other like a slanted roof, which creates a lot of shade underneath. If they are also placed closely together, it's bad for plant growth.
Some panels track the sun and are set at an angle. Others can be installed vertically, standing straight up, explains Kjeldstad.
Torunn Kjeldstad is head of department at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE).(Photo: Pixel & Co)
An ongoing study in the project is examining how shade from the panels affects biodiversity. Preliminary results suggest there is greater species richness outside the shaded areas than under the panels.
At the same time, solar parks take up less space overall when the panels are placed close together.
This might mean that, nationally, less land is needed for solar panels.
What's preferable becomes a matter of trade-offs, says Riise.
Working on a model
IFE is developing a model to simulate the microclimate in solar parks – that is, how the panels affect the local environment in a solar installation.
"A key part of the project is trying to draw conclusions that can be applied to other locations," says Kjeldstad.
The goal is for the project to provide insight into how different panel configurations will impact the surrounding nature.
"You can implement many nature-friendly measures that also increase the cost of a solar power project. That might be the right choice for certain areas. But at the same time, it can be a barrier to economically viable projects," she says.
Do we really need to build in nature?
Is it truly necessary to develop large solar parks in natural landscapes, or could we rely on rooftop installations and existing developed areas instead?
"I think we could make significant progress using rooftops and grey areas. But there's an economic aspect here. If we want to make it happen, someone has to pay for it," says Riise.
At the moment, building solar power systems across many small grey sites isn’t financially viable, he explains. Grey areas include developed areas, abandoned industrial sites, or old quarries.
"Developers often point out that these grey areas are too small to offer the advantages of large-scale operations,” he says.
These grey areas can also have higher value because they often already have infrastructure, and there is potential for other business activities there.
Riise says that if things are left to run their course, we will likely see large facilities that take up natural land.
"But it's entirely possible for authorities to guide the development if they want to prioritise the use of more grey areas," he says.
