This Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund guide outlines the steps that go into planning, preparing, planting, and maintaining pollinator habitat. This guide outlines best practices for achieving high-quality pollinator habitat through proper planning, preparing, maintaining and planting. The guide also covers what has happened to pollinator habitat in recent years and why it has declined, as well as covering why these methods and processes are especially crucial for establishing healthy bee populations on agrivoltaic sites.
Tag Archive for: AgriSolar
This report investigates the effects of solar arrays on plant composition, bloom timing and foraging behavior of pollinators from June to September (after peak bloom) in full shade plots and partial shade plots under solar panels as well as in full sun plots (controls) outside of the solar panels. The report shows the results of studying various shade plots and their affect on pollinating insects and their ability to achieve a late-season forage. This late-season foraging behavior is especially crucial for certain pollinating insects in water-limited environments.
This report provides a summary of Fresh Energy’s key considerations related to pollinator-friendly solar. The report includes considerations for the development of agrisolar operations, including: design, construction, maintenance, pollinator basics and a business case for pollinator-friendly solar. Included within these topics are discussions and considerations for ground-mounted utility solar, hosting honey bees on solar farms, adding solar to dairy land and required vegetation for solar RPFs at Xcel Energy.
With a focus on north-west Europe, this paper systematically reviews the available evidence on how land management practices relevant to solar parks can enhance pollinator biodiversity. The methods in this research systematically review all of the available evidence on land-management practices in northwest Europe and their impacts on pollinator biodiversity.
The assessment provides information relating to improving solar park management for pollinators by providing foraging and reproductive resources, undergoing considered management practices, increasing landscape heterogeneity and connectivity, and providing microclimatic variation.
This technical guide serves as a starting point for the establishment and management of pollinator-friendly ground cover at ground-mounted solar photovoltaic arrays. This guide is intended to serve as a resource in understanding pollinator-friendly solar components and identify organizations,vendors, and experts who can provide more site-specific guidance. Also provided here are general guides for seed-mix development, planting layout and maintenance of pollinator-friendly vegetation to be used in agrivoltaic systems.
This fact sheet provides tips, facts, and guidance on a variety of agrivoltaic-related practices for solar projects and native vegetation in South Dakota. The fact sheet includes information on how to add product value, planning, cost, seeding, management, and construction. The resource also provides examples of native seed mixes for the region of South Dakota.
This fact sheet provides tips, facts, and guidance on a variety of agrivoltaic-related practices for solar projects and native vegetation in Iowa. The fact sheet includes information on how to add product value, planning, cost, seeding, management, and construction. The resource also provides examples of native seed mixes for the region of Iowa. Also included in this fact sheet are a short summary of best practices for agrivoltaic operations in Iowa.
This report explores the synergies between farming and solar photovoltaics with the premises that agricultural production on farmland should be maintained and farm profitability and soil health should be improved. This report explores whether a strong case can be made from a public policy point-of-view for developing solar so that it helps to preserve and improve farmland and the ecosystem in which it is located, while enabling achievement of both energy system and food system goals. The report covers many topics related to agrivoltaic systems including soil health, loss of land to development and electricity and agricultural land context.
This study addresses how land is being converted to accommodate for solar farms, and the potential for pollinator habitat to be established at solar farms in North Carolina. This report reveals that, based on previous land use, alternative vegetation selection, and cost comparison with current vegetation management techniques, the potential to create pollinator habitat at solar farms in North Carolina is likely to be feasible. The report covers suggested vegetation, estimated land-use acreage and cost analysis for agrivoltaic operations in North Carolina.
Starting in 2019, insect inventories were collected from a solar facility in Jackson County, Oregon as part of a study on plant-pollinator interactions in agrivoltaic systems. This study investigated the effects of solar arrays on plant composition, bloom timing and foraging behavior of pollinators in open fields, and in full shade and partial shade areas under solar panels in a predominant agricultural region of southern Oregon. The report shows that typically unused ground under solar panels can be used for pollinator habitat that benefits pollinating insects.
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