Solar panels on bodies of water in the northeastern U.S. might generate renewable energy but could also carry risks for birds, especially water birds.
Solar panels on bodies of water in the northeastern U.S. might generate renewable energy but could also carry risks for birds, especially water birds. Now a new study provides a data-informed approach to siting floating solar that could protect water birds and others, without sacrificing the potential for energy generation.
In the study, published Dec. 23 in Environmental Science & Technology, researchers used data from a previous Cornell-led project that assessed the energy potential of lakes and ponds in the Northeast, finding more than 16,000 suitable locations based on size and proximity to infrastructure. They overlaid that map with a map of bird abundances from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird Status and Trends tool.
Using the datasets, they were able to identify bodies of water with the highest likelihood of potential interaction between floating solar facilities and birds, finding that high energy potential didn’t often overlap with high bird interaction.
Read More: Cornell University
Photo Credit: wal_172619_II via Pixabay
