BirdLife Austria: Build outdoor PV systems in a way that is compatible with nature

Green electricity is a key technology to achieve the climate goals. The Austrian government is therefore aiming to generate an additional eleven terawatt hours of photovoltaic electricity by 2030. Open spaces will also have to be used for this. "An area the size of the city of Salzburg is needed", the bird protection organization BirdLife Austria has calculated.

This has now published a guideline for authorities and planners, which should serve the planning, approval and construction of nature-friendly photovoltaic ground-mounted systems. "Priority should be given to building those areas as open-air PV systems that are already sealed or unproblematic from a nature conservation point of view," says Bernadette Strohmaier from BirdLife Austria. These include, for example, commercial areas, parking lots, areas of motorway entrances and exits as well as landfills and near areas of existing wind farms. "A disorderly development of the cultivated land with solar modules would not only exacerbate the enormous land consumption in Austria, but also put bird species in the open country under even greater pressure, even though they had to accept an average of around 20 percent population losses in the past 40 years", says Strohmaier .

BirdLife Austria also recommends setting up buffer zones at the edge of the PV areas and that the solar modules should not cover more than 40 percent. And that a contiguous open space for nature of at least 30 percent of the total area should remain without construction. “In addition, late mowing of these meadow areas, the creation of fallow land or the preservation of native trees and shrubs serve to preserve biodiversity and lead to photovoltaic areas becoming relevant as breeding and feeding areas for birds,” says Strohmaier.

More information and details are available at https://www.birdlife.at/page/stellungnahmen-positionen a DAK Bungalow.

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