Solar farms can help boost bird numbers and bring greater diversity to the area, a new report has found.
Research into 124 UK solar farms found that they were collectively home to around 7,500 birds across 94 species – a fifth of which are endangered “Red List” species such as nightingales, skylarks and yellowhammers.
Almost 3,000 butterflies and bumblebees were recorded at the sites, comprising 29 different species, along with eight species of mammal including water voles, common shrew, roe deer and brown hare.
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Meanwhile, 44 tree species and 314 plant species were recorded, according to the research by Solar Energy UK in collaboration with Lancaster University and ecological consultancies Wychwood Biodiversity and Clarkson & Woods.
“Three years ago, we knew anecdotally that solar farms were good for wildlife. But the evidence is strong now. We are starting to see clear benefits for biodiversity, with over 50 per cent of sites seeing Red Listed birds,” said Solar Energy UK Chief Executive Chris Hewett.
The report comes after a study by Cambridge University and the RSPB in February found that: “solar farms managed with nature in mind have nearly three times as many birds compared to nearby arable farmland.”
“There is a growing body of evidence to show that solar farms have the potential to provide renewable energy and support farmland wildlife,” an RSPB spokesperson said.
“In the right location and when managed with wildlife in mind, solar farms can deliver meaningful benefits for farmland species, particularly in intensively farmed landscapes where nature is often depleted.
“By creating much-needed habitats such as hedgerows and wildflowers, solar farms can provide food and shelter for farmland species as well as decarbonising our energy network,” the spokesperson added.
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Other solar farms are also starting to use the areas beneath solar panels to graze sheep and other livestock and Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says there is scope to use solar farms to help restore degraded peatland.
“There’s now the evidence that, if done carefully, it’s possible to do solar farms in a ‘nature-positive’ way,” he said.
“A lot of it depends on what was there before but if you put solar farms on low-quality degraded agricultural land and a nice wildflower meadow underneath them then that will end up better for nature.”
There is scope to put grazing and poultry underneath solar farms, he said, and thinks some could be used “to boost some areas of peatland”.
“I don’t think it’s been done yet – but there is the potential to put solar farms on degraded lowland peat, say in the fens, for example. Essentially putting them on stilts and rewetting lowland peat underneath and starting to get the peat growing again, that would be really exciting.”
Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP said: “We often hear that solar is a trade-off with nature, which is simply not the case. Solar power is a fundamental part of our clean power ambitions, strengthening our energy security and protecting billpayers, whilst supporting nature, farmers and local communities.
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