Energy Meteorology for the Evaluation of Solar Farm Thermal Impacts on Desert Habitats

Abstract This work addresses challenges and opportunities in the evaluation of solar power plant impacts, with a particular focus on thermal effects of solar plants on the environment and vice-versa. Large-scale solar power plants are often sited in arid or desert habitats, which tend to include fauna and flora that are highly sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. Our understanding of both shortwave (solar) and longwave (terrestrial) radiation processes in solar power plants is complete enough to render the modeling of radiation fluxes with high confidence for most applications. In contrast to radiation, the convective environment in large-scale solar power plants is much more difficult to characterize. Wind direction, wind speed, turbulence intensity, dust concentration, ground condition, panel configuration density, orientation and distribution throughout the solar field, all affect the local environment, the balance between radiation and convection, and in turn, the performance and thermal impact of solar power plants. Because the temperatures of the two sides of photovoltaic (PV) panels depend on detailed convection–radiation balances, the uncertainty associated with convection affects the heat and mass transfer balances as well. Those balances are critically important in estimating the thermal impact of large-scale solar farms on local habitats. Here we discuss outstanding issues related with these transfer processes for utility-scale solar generation and highlight potential pathways to gain useful knowledge about the convective environment directly from solar farms under operating conditions.