Are Solar Panels Killing Birds

An artificial intelligence powered birder is on the case.

Are solar panels killing birds.

Meanwhile wind turbines and solar panels are. The ivanpah solar plant in san bernardino county is killing thousands of birds blasting them into wisps of smoke against the sky that plant workers call business california. But there are fewer cats in the united states today than in 2013. With a concentraing solar plant birds can be harmed when they fly too close to the path of the reflected solar energy.

One of their main complaints. We have clarified this article to explain how the solar thermal plant differs from the far more common design used in photovoltaic solar farms. In the western united states these large scale installations are often planned for desert areas that receive a lot of sunlight. The estimate by biologists is that the ivanpah solar plant kills about 3 500 birds per year this way.

For example some solar developers in minnesota and other states are growing native plant species around solar panels to benefit birds and other pollinators. If they do they can basically get cooked by the high energy rays. Meanwhile as many as 28 000 birds are killed each year that s one every two minutes by the ivanpah solar plant in the mojave desert according to the u s. The vast field of solar panels which would generate enough electricity to power 230 000 average california homes according to its developer would kill birds.

Editor s note 9 september 2019. Their bird killing effects have been serious enough to kill and hamper some planned projects. Cats eat more birds than wind turbines kill claim wind and solar activists. Solar facilities kill tens of thousands of birds every year and no one is quite sure why.