Bee Hives Activity On Solar Farm
Oct 20, 2021
Bees are very important, because they are responsible for approximately 70% of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts that we humans consume every day. However, since the mid-2000s, a species threatening "colony collapse" has led to a sharp decline in the commercial bee population.
For this reason, scientific researchers have been studying new land management practices, some of the most promising involve the symbiotic relationship between agriculture and photovoltaics. One such study published in the journal Biological Conservation examined the economic benefits of integrating beehives with solar farms.
Image: Lancaster University
Enter agricultural photovoltaic
The symbiosis benefits of agricultural photovoltaics are increasingly being documented. Many people suggest incorporating bee hives into solar parks as a dual solution to solve the problem of bee populations and expand renewable energy capacity.
In the United Kingdom (UK), a team of researchers from the University of Lancaster and the University of Reading published a study that found that if bee hives were added to solar parks across the country, the value of British agriculture could increase by millions of dollars each year GBP.
However, the scientists behind the study made it clear that when managing solar farms, where appropriate, priority should be given to wild pollinators over bees. Solar farms are essential for energy transition and environmental sustainability, but they do occupy large areas of land, so they should bring additional environmental and commercial benefits as much as possible.
Of course, many solar farms are located in agricultural areas where wild pollinator habitats have long been degraded or eradicated. For these, bee hives will be a welcome supplement, providing pollinators that can increase crop yields.
Alona Armstrong, a senior lecturer at Lancaster University, said: “Managing a bee solar park can have a positive impact on crop yields and therefore on financial returns. Wild pollinators and the benefits of managing biodiversity more broadly.”
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Of course, some solar farms already have bees working hard. For example, Iberdrola built an apiary at the Andévalo photovoltaic power plant near Huelva, Andalusia, Spain, which houses 165 hives and more than 8 million bees, near Badajoz in the Extremadura region of the country Another hive was built in Usagre’s Núñez de Balboa project, hosting 105 hives and 5 million bees.
However, it was not until this British study that the economic benefits of this symbiotic relationship were quantified. Considering the cost of installing and managing beehives, the research team used detailed land cover maps to compare the location and crop distribution of the solar park, as well as the existing bee hive data, pollination requirements, and crop value to determine that the deployment of bees in the solar park can only be In 2017, it increased crop yields by 5.9 million pounds.
Among the British countries, the United Kingdom is the country that can benefit most from the integration of bee hives, mainly because the oilseeds are planted so extensively. However, the researchers also studied beans, flaxseed, pears, apples, strawberries, blackcurrants and raspberries, and found that soft fruits such as berries benefited the most on a per capita basis.
Field crop production has increased by 2.6 million pounds, while the top fruits used to produce cider will increase by 1.3 million pounds, and soft fruits will increase by 1.9 million pounds.
Ultimately, of course, this is an assumption (albeit instructive), and the report found that if all British crops were planted within a 1.5-kilometer radius of the Hive Solar Park, the value of these crops could increase by £80 million per year.
"Our research shows how multidisciplinary research can find new land management practices," said Simon Potts of the University of Reading, one of the co-authors of the study. "This can simultaneously enable energy producers, farmers, beekeepers and Consumers benefit."
