Solar – Environmental, Health and Safety Impacts
Some environmental impacts from solar energy development include general land use impacts, visual impacts, impacts from hazardous materials, and potential impacts on water and other resources. In addition, because utility-scale solar energy sites require large areas for solar radiation collection, the large arrays may impact the natural sunlight, rainfall and drainage of the covered area. This in turn may have unknown effects on local plants and animals.
Disrupting land areas can also impact existing uses, like livestock grazing and any existing archeological resources. Existing uses of tribal lands may also need to be evaluated. Visual impacts from reflective surfaces are more subjective aesthetic issues. However, thoughtful siting decisions can help avoid more egregious visual impacts.
Photovoltaic panels, although sealed, have the potential for hazardous contamination if they are damaged or improperly disposed. In addition, concentrating solar systems may contain or use liquids such as oils or molten salts that can present spill risks.
Finally, water is used for cooling in parabolic trough and central tower solar systems because they use conventional steam generated electricity. In the arid Southwest, this extra demand for water resources is problematic as is the possible accidental contamination to the cooling water itself.
Currently the Bureau of Land Management is working with the Department of Energy on a joint Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to reduce environmental impacts of solar energy production on Federal lands. Under this PEIS, potential sites will be examined in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. This effort includes determining the need for new transmission access to and from the sites. The PEIS is also meant to reduce the normal permitting time required for applications. Within the scope of the PEIS are only lands that are excellent solar candidates, with the correct slope, with proximity to existing transmission lines and at least 2,000 acres of BLM public lands. Also sensitive lands, such as wilderness and lands with conflicting uses were excluded. The BLM is trying to be more environmentally sensitive in looking at its renewable energy land use plans. They will not only use the PEIS, but will do site-specific impact studies.
Solar – Energy Security
In cooperation with the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has several solar energy research and development initiatives underway. One of these is the Photovoltaic (PV) Manufacturing Research and Development (R&D) project. One goal of this project was reduce costs overall by improving products and manufacturing processes. NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the project in 1991 as the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) project. In 2001, NREL extended this successful project and renamed it the PV Manufacturing R&D Project. Since its start, this project has issued more than 70 subcontracts to 40 solar companies. In 2007, many of the research projects were incorporated into the current portfolio of the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program.
Another NREL project seeks to work with the U.S. PV industry and university researchers to advance PV performance and systems engineering, improve systems reliability, and develop technology suitable for integration into residential and commercial building structures. Core to this work is performance monitoring, characterization, and modeling of emerging-technology, small (<5 kWp), grid-connected, prototype PV systems installed and operating at the NREL Outdoor Test Facility. NREL’s systems engineering research and development (R&D) work also includes activities to support the development of industry consensus, adopted codes, standards, and certification that cover PV systems, components, and installation practices. This research is important to the DOE Solar Program because it provides independent data, analyses, and assessments of the performance and reliability metrics that are essential for benchmarking candidate technologies.
References
Solar Energy Development Programmatic EIS, “Solar Energy Development Environmental Considerations,” http://solareis.anl.gov/guide/environment/index.cfm.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Systems Engineering,” http://www.nrel.gov/pv/systems_engineering.html.
