Solar grids are typically constructed in open meadows and habitats where many species of bees and butterflies are. When the grids are installed, that means there are less areas for insects to pollinate, thus producing a negative impact on the environment and neutralizing the positive impact solar power has on carbon emissions.
LaGrange, Georgia, is trying to have it both ways. Georgia Power started a pollinator project within the town’s solar grid to maintain the spaces for bees and other species.
“Any kind of (solar) conversion takes away habitat,” Jim Ozier, Georgia Power’s environmental specialist, told local television station WRBL. “We’re looking at the possibility of mitigating some of that by providing habitat for pollinators within the solar arrays.”
The project area has experienced an increased presence of pollinator and insect activity in a 1.5-acre area of the three-acre site, as the utility hopes to extend the project to other arrays across the state. The Electric Power Research Institute is funding the project, which has faced challenges such as poor soil.
One challenge that officials are facing is the level of maintenance necessary for the pollination area to keep out invasive, exotic weeds.
“We feel like it’s making good use of a space that would otherwise be limited and it’s compatible with the primary and intended use, which is generating solar power,” Ozier says.
Dave Lubach is the executive editor of the facility market.
