Ecovoltaics in Sweden Views on integrating measures for biodiversity in solar parks

Abstract

In line with the process of society converting to renewable energy sources and the increasing levels of electrification, solar power becomes a more important and prevalent energy source. One part of the development in Sweden is the growth in size and numbers of solar parks. Another issue facing humanity is the looming biodiversity crisis addressed in COP 15. In Sweden the ground mounted solar parks might pose a risk to biodiversity, but also presents an opportunity with the implementation of ecovoltaics. Ecovoltaics is the dual land use principle of combining measures for biodiversity and solar power. This study therefore aims to investigate how solar parks in Sweden utilize ecovoltaics in their design and what the industry needs to implement ecovoltaics more widely as well as investigating existing and potential incentives for increasing ecovoltaics in Sweden. The methods utilized in this thesis were a literature search and an interview study, with the methodology of Systematic Text Condensation used to analyze the interviews. The study reached the following conclusions: the use of ecovoltaics has grown in recent years, all interviewees reported the use of some measures, the most prominent categories being aiming to avoid, minimize or offset impacts on biodiversity. The industry reported three actions as essential: the development of more research and best practices examples, clear and national regulations and a standardized measurement system for biodiversity. There are no subsidies for ecovoltaics specifically. Further, it was found that there is an opportunity to align investor and landowner interests with biodiversity through the use of economic incentives.