Are Solar Panels Killing Birds

The estimate by biologists is that the ivanpah solar plant kills about 3 500 birds per year this way.

Are solar panels killing birds.

Fish and wildlife service. 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. 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. We have clarified this article to explain how the solar thermal plant differs from the far more common design used in photovoltaic solar farms.

Now as concentrated solar farms start to sweep the globe solar energy developers are facing similar. In the western united states these large scale installations are often planned for desert areas that receive a lot of sunlight. Solar facilities kill tens of thousands of birds every year and no one is quite sure why. For example some solar developers in minnesota and other states are growing native plant species around solar panels to benefit birds and other pollinators.

Editor s note 9 september 2019. If they do they can basically get cooked by the high energy rays. Cats eat more birds than wind turbines kill claim wind and solar activists. 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.

An artificial intelligence powered birder is on the case. 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. Coverage of the ivanpah bird problem has contributed to the unfounded misconception that solar panels may kill birds.