Evaluating the potential for improving biodiversity on solar farms

Solar farms are an increasingly popular green energy solution globally (Kruitwagen et al. 2021) and there is an ever-increasing number of planning applications submitted across the UK to create more. Large-scale solar farms require large surface areas which compete with agriculture, developments, and habitat restoration priorities. To balance this, there is an increase in ‘agrivoltaic farming’ - combining agriculture and farming on the same land (Handler and Pearce 2022) as well as pilot sites planting pollinator-friendly seed mixes in buffer zones around and between panels (Meyer et al. 2023). Despite the availability of practical guidance for increasing biodiversity on solar farms (Naturesave Insurance & Wychwood Biodiversity 2021), most often they present as simply panels over mown or grazed grass, providing little opportunity for complex ecosystems to establish.

The locations of these solar farms are generally ideal habitat areas for reptiles and amphibians which could be supported if minor changes are implemented such as adding artificial refugia under panels and creating patches of bare soil for ground-nesting insects as a food source. Surrey and neighbouring local authorities are seeing a significant increase in planning applications for new solar farms and there is a subsequent need for a set of environmental recommendations which may then be adopted as planning conditions. Increasing biodiversity on solar farms and using them as corridors to connect habitats would feed into other local government environmental goals such as those of the Local Nature Recovery Network. The recommendations are being designed to be used by local planning authorities (LPAs) within Surrey, surrounding counties and the GLA in order to ensure best advantage is made of the increasing trend for the establishment of such farms towards achieving the goal of increasing biodiversity within the county.

Initially established as a regional partnership development grant under RHUL's ESRC-funded Social Science Impact Accelerator (SSIA) (£4700), it has attracted £4000 in co-funding from the Heathrow Strategic Planning Group (HSPG) to cover additional research and related activities beyond the scope of SSIA fundingInitially established as a regional partnership development grant under RHUL's ESRC-funded Social Science Impact Accelerator (SSIA) (£4700), it has attracted £4000 in co-funding from the Heathrow Strategic Planning Group (HSPG) to cover additional research and related activities beyond the scope of SSIA fundingInitially funded (£4700) as a regional partnership development project under RHUL's ESRC-funded Social Science Impact Accelerator (SSIA), it has attracted £4000 in co-funding from the Heathrow Strategic Planning Group (HSPG) to cover additional research and related activities beyond the scope of the SSIA on account of its perceived wider relevance to its member organisations.

Initially established as a regional partnership development grant under RHUL's ESRC-funded Social Science Impact Accelerator (SSIA) (£4700), it has attracted £4000 in co-funding from the Heathrow Strategic Planning Group (HSPG) to cover additional research and related activities beyond the scope of SSIA funding