Land surface process alterations caused by solar photovoltaic systems: A systematic review and future framework from global evidence

Abstract

During the energy transition, solar power is increasingly replacing traditional energy sources, contributing to carbon-neutral commitments and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unlike the pollutant-dominant environmental impacts of fossil fuels, solar power exerts climate- and ecology-dominant influences on the entire environment. By changing land surface radiative properties, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems create new energy interaction interfaces with original ecosystems, thereby modifying land surface processes and associated climate variables. While many studies have monitored, measured, or simulated climate variables of PV systems, a comprehensive systematic summary remains lacking. This study synthesizes 147 studies to conduct a systematic review and Meta-analysis. We found that studies on land surface process alterations of PV systems employed research methods of field observation, remote sensing, and numerical simulations across multiple scales, including microsite, solar plant, landscape, as well as continent and globe. The impacts of PV systems on wind speed (–29.96 %), albedo (–17.49 %), daily (–0.44 °C) and daytime (–0.90 °C) land surface temperature, soil temperature (–2.42 °C), and soil water content (+ 38.60 %) were significant. Additionally, heterogeneous responses across different underlying surface types highlight various interactions of PV systems with ecological processes. Finally, a future-oriented framework integrating “underlying surface–research method–climate variable–land surface process–research scale” is proposed to promote interdisciplinary research on land surface process responses of PV systems. This systematic review offers valuable insights into the environmental impact assessment of solar power-integrated ecosystems, providing scientific support for climate actions and facilitating a high-quality energy transition.

Keywords

Solar photovoltaic systems / Solar farms / Land surface process / Climate variables / Meta-analysis / Systematic review

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