No, solar panels won’t make you hungry, Energy News, ET EnergyWorld

At almost every step, the pace of photovoltaic implementation has been significantly underestimated.

The chart below shows it best. While the forecasts were based on sober predictions of linear growth, the reality has been an exponential curve as costs have plummeted. In 2023, solar panels were supplying 6% of the world’s electricity, and BloombergNEF expects another 585 gigawatts of new solar capacity to be installed in 2024.

There seems to be little that can outshine the sun (although the full effect of increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese panels remains to be seen). But unless we can find an inexpensive way to put panels in space, at some point there will be a limiting factor: Earth’s space. Land-use disputes are already circulating in Europe, which are slowing the rollout of utility-scale solar projects. There’s a particular tension between farmland and solar farms. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said that solar panels pose a “threat to food sovereignty,” prompting the government to issue an emergency decree banning farmers from leasing land to solar developers. Those looking to diversify their revenue streams must invest directly in the infrastructure itself, which now has to be at least 2.1 meters (7 crops) high to allow food to continue growing underneath.

In the UK, energy security secretary Claire Coutinho said solar power should not threaten food security and urged local governments to reject high-quality farmland projects. Similar frictions are emerging in Spain, Romania and the Netherlands.

However, concerns far outweigh the actual risk to food production, and attempts to control where photovoltaics are introduced could end badly for farmers.

For context, it’s worth examining how much land solar would take up if the UK government achieved its 70 gigawatt output target by 2035. A 2022 analysis by climate and energy publisher Carbon Brief found that ground-mounted solar panels they cover less than 0.1 per cent of the UK’s land, requiring an average of 6 acres per megawatt of power. Future solar farms will be able to use space much more efficiently, averaging just 3 acres per megawatt, so adding an additional 38 gigawatts of ground-mounted solar (assuming current capacity is increased by up to five times) would require another 464 m2 km, or a total of 0.3% of the area mainland Great Britain.

Even in the unlikely event that all ground-mounted solar panels were located on agricultural land, they would cover approximately 0.41 percent of the country’s used agricultural area. Given that climate change has been identified as the biggest medium and long-term risk to the UK’s food security, arguing for less than a percentage of agricultural land does not seem worth it. Beyond this, it is also assumed that agriculture and solar cannot exist side by side, when the evidence suggests that they can complement each other nicely. A 2023 study found that agrivoltaics (in which land is used to simultaneously produce energy and food) can often increase crop and feed yields: in a semi-arid environment, yields of tomatoes grown next to the panels were almost three times higher than in a traditional system. Similarly, livestock production on pastures can also be increased by reducing heat stress.

Following a successful pilot project in the Netherlands in 2020, a raspberry grower installed one of the largest agrivoltaic arrays in Europe. Blueberries are usually grown under plastic sheeting to protect them from harsh weather conditions, but grower Maarten van Hoof has discovered that growing under solar panels works much better – it is resistant to wind, rain and reduces plastic waste. People concerned about food security may also forget that solar energy can be a lifesaver for cash-strapped farmers who are struggling to make ends meet, struggling with extreme weather conditions and rising costs.

In May, Helen Browning, chief executive of the Soil Association, told a news conference at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think tank that farmers were considering leaving because they could make much more money doing something else. A record run of wet weather has left many in a precarious financial position, and the National Farmers’ Union’s annual survey showed that farmer confidence was at its lowest since it began in 2010.

Leasing land to solar developers provides farmers with a regular income for little work, which can mean the difference between a farmer who has to give up and one who can continue producing food. Speaking to the Financial Times, an Italian farmer described solar panels as a “godsend”. About 25 percent of designated agricultural land in Italy lies fallow due to extreme heat, drought and rising costs. If growing food is simply not profitable, why stop farmers from finding new ways to generate a sustainable income from it, as Meloni’s new bill does?

Some are also concerned about the impact of large solar farms on biodiversity, but again these changes may have a positive impact on biodiversity. Studies have shown that sensitive species coexist happily with solar parks, and pollinators thrive when grasses and wildflowers grow under and between the panels. As a UBS Group AG report points out, those interested in biodiversity should be more concerned about the mining and production of materials used in solar panels, which account for more than 80 percent of a solar power plant’s lifecycle impact on natural capital.

There is a growing problem with the uneven distribution of solar parks: 43 per cent of ground-mounted installations are in the south-west and south-east of England, leading to fierce local opposition. Putting solar panels on brownfield sites, car parks and rooftops should also be made much easier.

But pitting solar energy against food and biodiversity risks doing more harm than good to the agricultural sector and ignoring a whole range of benefits for both the planet and people.