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Land-Use Efficiency of Big Solar

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† Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
§ Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, California 94305, United States
‡ Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Chapman, California 92866, United States
*Phone: (650) 681-7457; fax: (650) 462-5968; e-mail: [email protected]
Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 2, 1315–1323
Publication Date (Web):December 18, 2013
https://doi.org/10.1021/es4043726
Copyright © 2013 American Chemical Society
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Abstract

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As utility-scale solar energy (USSE) systems increase in size and numbers globally, there is a growing interest in understanding environmental interactions between solar energy development and land-use decisions. Maximizing the efficient use of land for USSE is one of the major challenges in realizing the full potential of solar energy; however, the land-use efficiency (LUE; Wm–2) of USSE remains ambiguous. We quantified the capacity-based LUE of 183 USSE installations (>20 MW; planned, under construction, and operating) using California as a case study. In California, USSE installations are concentrated in the Central Valley and interior regions of southern California and have a LUE of 35.0 Wm–2. The installations occupy approximately 86 000 ha and more land is allocated for photovoltaic schemes (72 294 ha) than for concentrating solar power (13 604 ha). Photovoltaic installations are greater in abundance (93%) than concentrating solar power, but technology type and nameplate capacity has no impact on capacity-based LUE. More USSE installations are on private land (80%) and have a significantly greater LUE (35.8 Wm–2) than installations on public land (25.4 Wm–2). Our findings can be used to better understand and improve the LUE of USSE, thereby maximizing economic, energetic, and environmental returns on investments.

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