The plant is owned and operated by solarhybrid AG and they have partnered with the University of Applied Sciences in Eberswalde on the project. Given the vast size of the plant and the lengthy duration of the monitoring project, researcher Hans-Peter Piorr believes, "a host of new insights" will result.
The research will focus on how large-scale photovoltaic plants impact on the environment and what can be done to mitigate this.
The FinowTower site is a former military airport and researchers will study the flora and fauna present there. If any relocation of endangered species is required this will be carried out. The site is the size of 250 football fields and wildlife at the site has already been studied by Jens Möller Vögel in the initial construction phases.
A major aim of the research is to avoid potential conflict situations between photovoltaic integrators and conservationists before they arise.
There frequently have been conflicts between photovoltaic project developers and environmentalists in Germany. Some projects in desert areas of the U.S. have also come under fire over flora and fauna impacts. One example has been in the Mojave Desert, where endangered tortoises were thought to be impacted by a BrightSource Energy development.
The October edition of pv magazine contains a feature article on the development of photovoltaic power plants in nature reserves.
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.