Wild Solar On-site Energy

Climate change mitigation. Solar energy development benefits wildlife by mitigating climate change, which is a major threat to wildlife and wildlife habitat. Research areas of interest include:

On-site plant and animal habitat. Solar energy facilities can implement strategies to manage on-site habitat for the benefit of native wildlife communities (e.g., seeding with native plants). Research areas of interest include:

Joined by researchers from 11 other organizations, the study authors set out “ a framework for understanding more completely, and ultimately quantifying, the benefits of solar energy ” that they've dubbed Wild Energy.

“The first step in creating a wild-energy future is understanding the true value of solar,” said research project organizer and lead report author, Rebecca R. Hernandez, an assistant professor at UC Davis' John Muir Institute of the Environment.

The extent to which habitat loss and fragmentation from solar development has already occurred and its impacts on habitat connectivity. The efficacy of wildlife corridors and wildlife-friendly fencing in mitigating adverse impacts from habitat loss and fragmentation.

Non-traditional siting. Implementing non-traditional siting strategies (e.g., agrivoltaics) and selecting non-traditional sites (floating photovoltaics or contaminated lands) can help reduce the adverse impacts of utility-scale solar energy on wildlife by reducing the total amount of high-quality wildlife habitat required for solar development.