Listening to the birds and the bees to make solar farms more biofriendly

Researchers are utilizing listening gadgets and cams at 3 Minnesota solar farms to learn how planting native turfs and flowers advantages birds, bees and other wildlife.

Argonne National Laboratory, an Illinois-based proving ground moneyed by the U.S. Department of Energy, has actually been gathering information at solar farms owned by Enel Green Power in Mankato and Atwater considering that 2018. A solar-and-battery center owned by Connexus Energy in Ramsey was included 2020.

Using microphones and motion-activated cams, Argonne scientists are tracking gos to by birds and wildlife to determine biodiversity at each solar farm.

“We’re trying to get data from all different kinds of sites that have planted different seed mixes, or some that haven’t really planted at all, that just have grasses growing on the site,” said Heidi Hartmann, program supervisor of land resources and energy policy at Argonne.

The information they collect might help federal authorities establish much better practices for handling plants on solar farms to supply environmental advantages, as Minnesota and the U.S. move far from nonrenewable fuel sources to cleaner sources of energy. 

The Department of Energy approximates a minimum of 10 million acres of solar production will be required throughout the U.S. by 2050 to accomplish zero-carbon objectives.

“If we can do it in a way that also benefits the environment, that’s going to be key,” Hartmann said.

Tracking birds, bees and other animals

Argonne scientists check out each website every 2 weeks throughout July and August. They follow 100-foot lines called transects, taping all flowering plants and pollinators that they see.

On a hot, bright day in July, Hartmann treked in between long rows of photovoltaic panels at the Ramsey Renewable Station, stopping briefly when a vibrant flower or pest captured her eye.

“Oh, that’s a beautiful bumblebee,” she said. The pest was set down on a spikey, purple flower called leadplant growing perfectly amidst the solar selections.

“There’s quite a bit of it here, and apparently the bees like it,” Hartmann said.

At the back of the row, Hartmann discovered what she was trying to find: a tripod geared up with a motion-activated cam that records pictures of any animals that occur to crawl, scoot or zip. 

“A lot of it is just blowing grass,” she said. “But you also get different kinds of wildlife. We’ve got raccoons and birds, of course, and we have seen deer on some of the sites.”

The tripod likewise holds an acoustic and ultrasonic gadget that tape-records bird and bat calls for a number of hours a day around dawn and sundown.

In one year, the microphones at the Ramsey station found more than 47,000 bird calls from almost 2 lots various types, consisting of sandhill cranes, goldfinches, robins, finches and an osprey. The information will be compared to recordings from a control website in a close-by farm field.

Hartmann said at one Wisconsin research study place, keeps an eye on found more bird gos to at the control website, however a higher variety of types at the solar farm.

“We’re still trying to figure out the reasons for that,” she said. “It may be just better habitat on the solar sites. It may be some protection afforded by shade during the day, if it’s hot.”

‘If you build it, will they come?’

The Ramsey solar farm utilized to be surrounded by farm fields. But close by, rows of brand-new homes have actually appeared. Connexus Energy agent Rob Davis said they do not mind having next-door neighbors.

“It’s really exciting to be able to see that we’re essentially providing them a free park for wildlife,” he said. “Folks can sit on their back deck and hear the bird songs and enjoy the monarchs that fly through.”

When Connexus proposed the solar-and-battery storage center, which was integrated in 2018, some regional citizens withstood the concept. What assisted alter minds, Davis said, was explaining the advantages of native meadow plants and flowers to the soil and close-by farm crops that depend upon pollinators.

“It was because of that additional ground cover quality that gave (us) the thumbs up for this project to proceed,” he said.

Planting pollinator environment had to do with the exact same cost as putting gravel under the photovoltaic panels, said Greg Ridderbusch, Connexus president and CEO.

“It just seemed to us to be a better practice,” he said. “Over the years, we’ve standardized it. We think if you’re going to take some land and use it for solar production, the pollinator plantings upgrade the soil over time.”

Argonne anticipates to launch some initial information quickly, and release its findings in about a year. If they reveal solar farms can have a positive effect on biodiversity, that might help them end up being more commonly accepted by neighborhoods throughout the U.S., said Lee Walston, an ecologist at Argonne.

“It’s to answer the question — if you build it, will they come?” Walston said. “If you build solar facilities that are habitat friendly, what kinds of biodiversity responses do you see or hear as a result?”

Argonne wishes to see more solar business plant varied blends of seeds that consist of deep-rooted blooming plants, Hartmann said. Along with drawing in bees and butterflies, they help hold the soil in location, avoid disintegration and control flooding, she said.

“There’s more upfront cost, maybe, to establish the nice, healthy vegetation on the site,” Hartmann said. “But we believe it pays off.”