Data for: Bibliographic synthesis of biodiversity-relevant criteria for solar energy siting

The widespread expansion of solar energy generation promises to help mitigate global-scale threats from climate change while potentially impacting biodiversity at local scales. Developers must attempt to maximize solar energy production while minimizing conflicts with biodiversity conservation, particularly as calls for the conservation of 30% of the world’s land and sea area gain traction. Here, we bibliographically synthesized peer-reviewed solar suitability analyses that attempt to optimize locations most suitable for solar development and convened a panel of energy experts to contextualize the use of biodiversity-relevant criteria in siting solar installations. We found that biodiversity-relevant criteria seemed to be used in solar suitability analyses primarily to meet legal requirements, and, thus, may not adequately account for the potential effects of solar infrastructure on local and/or regional biodiversity. The expert panel identified two primary barriers to incorporating bio..., , # Data for: Bibliographic synthesis of biodiversity-relevant criteria for solar energy siting

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk77](10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk77)

## Description of the data and file structure

This data was collected as part of a bibliographic synthesis of spatially-explicit siting analyses for large, ground-mounted photovoltaic solar energy facilities in the peer-reviewed literature. These analyses use various criteria in an attempt to optimize locations most suitable for solar development in a landscape of interest. Our goal was to determine whether and how these analyses make use of criteria related to biodiversity. This repository contains a .tsv file with the results of that literature review and several R markdown files with the R code used to facilitate our analysis and visualization of those results.

### Files and variables

#### File: FINAL_Solar_Suitability_Analysis_Literature_Review.Rproj

**Description:** This R Project file contains the individual R Markdown ...,