Solar trees provide opportunity to meet renewable energy targets without deforestation

With the right technology, solar energy has the potential to meet all of the world’s electricity needs, but we are still a long way off from that point. Still, governments around the world are setting high objectives for renewable energy. Many world leaders have set commitments to phase out coal power and transition away from fossil fuels, and solar panel installations are currently one of the top contenders for implementing these plans.

However, solar energy has a bit of a dark secret. In some places, putting up these massive solar panel installations requires cutting down hundreds or even thousands of hectares of forests over time. In South Korea, deforestation caused by solar installations affected 529 hectares of forest in 2016, 1,435 hectares in 2017, and 2,443 hectares in 2018.

Of course, there are some solar installations located in deserts or other treeless landscapes that don’t have this issue. But those that do end up cutting out an incredibly important carbon sink, first worsening the problem they are attempting to alleviate. This deforestation then causes further issues with erosion and the destruction of natural habitats.

This doesn’t mean that solar installations have no utility—they still represent a crucial source of renewable energy. Fortunately, there may soon be a way around the deforestation. Prototypes of new solar technologies are being developed, and one of these is particularly promising—the solar tree. Solar trees are designed with a natural tree morphology, incorporating solar panel arrays into branches and leaves in the upper canopy, while still allowing light to penetrate to the underlying vegetation.

Until recently, solar tree performance had not been analyzed as a large-scale installation, with prior research mostly focusing on individual solar tree performance. But in a new study, recently published in Scientific Reports, researcher Dan-Bi Um conducted a large-scale simulation of solar trees in a coastal forest region of Goseong County, South Korea. He then compared the land use, forest cover and installed capacity of the real-world flat-panel solar installation that exists there.

“Approximately 98% of the forested area was converted into dark gray solar panel surfaces following the completion of the flat-panel solar project. This large-scale land conversion alters the coastal environment’s visual character and suggests significant ecological disruption, including potential loss of native vegetation, habitat fragmentation, and reduced biodiversity,” Um says of the real-life installation.

In contrast, the simulated solar trees kept 99% of the forested area intact, with solar trees spaced 20 meters apart in a linear fashion along hiking trails and site boundaries. The solar trees were capable of achieving the same power capacity as flat panels—an impressive feat, considering the massive difference in saved forest area. In the simulation, 63 solar trees (using high-efficiency panels) produced the same amount of power as the 1 MW flat panel installation, while occupying far less land area.

The study represents the importance of investing in better technologies when trying to meet renewable energy targets. Solar trees offer a promising solution for preserving valuable green spaces and biodiversity, while still producing renewable energy and saving money by reducing land costs for solar energy. However, more research is needed to ensure their functionality across different landscapes.

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