Solar energy systems have been grabbing most attention among all the other renewable energy systems throughout the last decade. However, even renewable energies can have some adverse environmental repercussions; therefore, further attention and proper precautional procedures should be given. This paper discusses in detail the environmental impacts of several commercial and emerging solar energy systems at both small- and utility-scales. The study expands to some essential elements in their systems. The approach follows all the stages, starting with the designs, then throughout their manufacturing, materials, construction or installation phases, and over operation lifetime and decommissioning. Specific solutions for most systems such as waste minimization and recycling are discussed, alongside with some technically and ecologically favorable recommendations for mitigating the impacts. The annual increases in global energy consumption, along with its environmental issues and concerns, are playing significant roles in the massive sustainable and renewable global transmission of energy.
A global inventory of photovoltaic solar energy generating units
L Kruitwagen, KT Story, J Friedrich, L Byers, S Skillman, C Hepburn
Nature 598 (7882), 604-610, 2021
Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generating capacity has grown by 41 per cent per year since 2009 1. Energy system projections that mitigate climate change and aid universal energy access show a nearly ten-fold increase in PV solar energy generating capacity by 2040 2, 3. Geospatial data describing the energy system are required to manage generation intermittency, mitigate climate change risks, and identify trade-offs with biodiversity, conservation and land protection priorities caused by the land-use and land-cover change necessary for PV deployment, Currently available inventories of solar generating capacity cannot fully address these needs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Here we provide a global inventory of commercial-, industrial-and utility-scale PV installations (that is, PV generating stations in excess of 10 kilowatts nameplate capacity) by using a longitudinal corpus of remote sensing imagery, machine learning and a large cloud computation infrastructure. We locate and verify 68,661 facilities, an increase of 432 per cent (in number of facilities) on previously available asset-level data. With the help of a hand-labelled test set, we estimate global installed generating capacity to be 423 gigawatts (− 75/+ 77 gigawatts) at the end of 2018. Enrichment of our dataset with estimates of facility installation date, historic land-cover classification and proximity to vulnerable areas allows us to show that most of the PV solar energy facilities are sited on cropland, followed by arid lands and grassland. Our inventory could aid PV delivery aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. Increasing the renewable energy share in most of the energy sectors is proven to be a vital option for most countries. Geothermal and solar energy have recently gained utmost attraction as green alternatives to replace fossil fuels. To take the most advantage of the renewable sources regarding their stochastic behavior, energy storage systems are employed for peak shaving and load leveling in power generation units. Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generating capacity has grown by 41 per cent per year since 2009 1. Energy system projections that mitigate climate change and aid universal energy access show a nearly ten-fold increase in PV solar energy generating capacity by 2040.
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