Impacts of Array Configuration on Land-Use Requirements for Large-Scale Photovoltaic Deployment in the United States: Preprint
Land use is often cited as an important issue for renewable energy technologies. In this paper we examine the relationship between land-use requirements for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) deployment in the U.S. and PV-array configuration. We estimate the per capita land requirements for solar PV and find that array configuration is a stronger driver of energy density than regional variations in solar insolation. When deployed horizontally, the PV land area needed to meet 100% of an average U.S. citizen's electricity demand is about 100 m2. This requirement roughly doubles to about 200 m2 when using 1-axis tracking arrays. By comparing these total land-use requirements with other current per capita land uses, we find that land-use requirements of solar photovoltaics are modest, especially when considering the availability of zero impact 'land' on rooftops. Additional work is need to examine the tradeoffs between array spacing, self-shading losses, and land use, along with possible techniques to mitigate land-use impacts of large-scale PV deployment.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-99-GO10337
- OSTI ID:
- 928896
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-670-42971; TRN: US200811%%377
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at SOLAR 2008 - American Solar Energy Society (ASES), 3-8 May 2008, San Diego, California
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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