Solar farms can promote pollinator biodiversity, including bumblebees and butterflies, through creating a range of microclimates and pollinator-friendly habitats. Creating pollinator-friendly habitats can be simple and fully compatible with solar farm operation. Habitat creation can be undertaken between the rows of panels or in margin areas, avoiding interference with electricity production.
Five key facets of promoting pollinator biodiversity on solar farms are:
- Employing management practices that promote pollinator friendly habitats.
- Enhancing food resources (such as pollen and nectar) for pollinators.
- Providing reproductive resources (i.e. places to nest or lay eggs) for a suite of pollinators.
- Designing and managing solar farms, where possible, to provide pollinators with a range of microclimates, essential for regulating body temperature.
- Taking a landscape approach to pollinator conservation is key and solar farms can help to connect habitats.
