Year 1 Updates
In the first year of the project, the PHASE team commenced ecological and PV performance field work at five large-scale solar sites, including monitoring plant diversity and abundance; observations of insect pollinators, birds, and bats; and environmental conditions under the panels.
A seventh test facility was recently added to the field study: Prairie Wolf, a 200 MW facility located in Coles County, Illinois. The research team will begin ecological and PV performance study at this site this summer.
Six of the seven participating solar sites have completed pollinator plantings of varying sizes and configurations. The remaining site is anticipated to be planted later this year.
The PHASE team has completed initial scoping designs for the web-based seed selection tool and cost-benefit calculator. The research team is currently collecting cost data from solar companies related to vegetation establishment and management that will be aggregated and anonymized for the cost-benefit calculator. If you are interested in sharing data, contact UIC.
