Utility-Scale Solar and Wind Development in Rural Areas: Land Cover Change (2009–20)

This report examines land cover and land cover change associated with utility-scale solar and wind development in rural areas from 2009–20. Wind development has been expanding since the late 1990s and comprises a larger share of renewable capacity than solar as most utility-scale solar projects were installed after 2016. Due to decreasing costs and new or existing policies promoting renewable development, the pace of development is expected to increase. The amount of land cover directly affected by solar and wind is estimated to be small relative to the amount of farmland. Still, more than 90 percent of wind turbines and 70 percent of solar farms in rural areas were sited on agricultural land. There are large regional differences in the distribution of solar and wind development. Even in years when no development occurred, land cover changed more frequently on land used for solar than wind, suggesting that solar and wind were sited on different types of land. After installation, solar sites more commonly changed land cover than wind, including shifts away from agriculture. Wind sites maintained agricultural land cover. This suggests that wind is compatible with agriculture and that land-use competition exists between farmland and solar farms.