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Solar energy has the potential to offset a significant fraction of non-renewable electricity demands globally, yet it may occupy extensive areas when deployed at this level. There is growing concern that large renewable energy installations will displace other land uses. Where should future solar power installations be placed to achieve the highest energy production and best use the limited land resource? Current studies largely ignore many of the environmental factors that influence Photovoltaic PV panel function.
Results confirm that the PV panel efficiency is influenced by the insolation, air temperature, wind speed and relative humidity. The model was applied globally using bias-corrected reanalysis datasets to map solar panel efficiency and the potential for solar power production given local conditions. The potential for dual-use, agrivoltaic systems may alleviate land competition or other spatial constraints for solar power development, creating a significant opportunity for future energy sustainability.
This objective will strengthen the U. Potential land competition between energy and food production 8 , 9 necessitates a deeper understanding of the available solar resource and the overlapping agricultural or ecosystem land use services The global expansion of solar energy will require that both the most sustainable energy infrastructure developments 10 as well as the locations of these developments are identified.
The aim of this study is to augment the scientific grounds for this discussion by ranking land cover classes according to their solar energy production potential. Each potential location has an associated microclimate; therefore, the influence of local climatology on PV conversion efficiency must be addressed.
