Ecohydrological effects of photovoltaic solar farms on soil microclimates and moisture regimes in arid Northwest China: A modeling study

Chuandong Wu; Hu Liu; Yang Yu; Wenzhi Zhao; Jintao Liu; Hailong Yu; Omer Yetemen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149946

Ecohydrological effects of photovoltaic solar farms on soil microclimates and moisture regimes in arid Northwest China: A modeling study

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jan 1:802:149946. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149946. Epub 2021 Aug 27.

Authors

Chuandong Wu¹, Hu Liu², Yang Yu³, Wenzhi Zhao⁴, Jintao Liu⁵, Hailong Yu⁶, Omer Yetemen⁷

Affiliations

¹ Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Lanzhou 730000, China; Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
² Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Lanzhou 730000, China; Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China. Electronic address: lhayz@lzb.ac.cn.
³ School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100038, China.
⁴ Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Lanzhou 730000, China; Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
⁶ School of Geography and Planning, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
⁷ Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul 34469, Turkey.

PMID: 34525759
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149946

Abstract

Photovoltaic technology plays an important role in the sustainable development of clean energy, and arid areas are particularly ideal locations to build large-scale solar farms, all over the world. Modifications to the energy balance and water availability through the installation of large-scale solar farms, however, fundamentally affect the energy budget, water, and biogeochemical cycles. In-situ field observations, though, fail to draw definitive conclusions on how photovoltaic panels (PVs) affect the ambient environment, or how microclimates and soil moisture evolve under the long-term, continuous, cumulative influence of PVs. Here, we designed a synthetic model, integrating processes of energy budget and water cycle, to quantify the ecohydrological effects of PVs on soil microclimate and moisture regimes at different locations (zones) near individual PVs. Simulations run with a stochastically generated 100-year climate time series were examined to capture the evolutionary trends of soil microclimate and soil moisture. The results indicate that soil moisture content was increased by 59.8% to 113.6% in the Middle and Front zones, and soil temperature was decreased by 1.47 to 1.66 °C in all the sheltered zones, mainly because there was 5- 7 times more available water and ~27% less available radiation there, compared with the control zone. On the other hand, if the ground clearance of the PVs is too low, turbulence beneath hot PVs will have a significant influence on not only soil temperature but also soil moisture content. The innovative contribution of this study lies in reinforcing existing theoretical patterns for the development of soil microclimate and moisture dynamics influenced by PVs, and can be used to provide reliable insights into the hydrological and biogeochemical processes on Earth and the sustainable management of large-scale solar farms in arid ecosystems.

Keywords: Agrivoltaic systems; Photovoltaic panels; Soil microclimate; Soil moisture; Solar farms; Synthetic model.

MeSH terms

China
Ecosystem
Farms
Microclimate*
Soil*
Water / analysis

Substances

Soil
Water