Heliyon (Jan 2024)
Assessment of the solar energy–agriculture–water nexus in the expanding solar energy industry of India: An initiative for sustainable resource management
Abstract
The rapid expansion of solar energy in India poses challenges in the context of cropland encroachment and water-resource scarcity. To help address these challenges, we used open access satellite observations and GIS technologies over Earth Engine platform to devise the Solar Panel Index (SPI) for efficient detection of solar farms, achieving a Land use/Land cover classification accuracy of 89 %. We have used cropland, water availability, power grid and land surface temperature data-sets for generation of land suitability map. Sentinel-2 data-sets along with SPI were used to develop solar farm locations and their estimated installed capacity within the study area. The outcomes from the study depicted that over 40 % of all solar farms in the country are located on agricultural land, with the highest seen in Karnataka (73.55 %) followed by Tamil Nadu (68.81 %). Furthermore, high installed capacity coincides with low groundwater depths, exacerbating local water strain. Madhya Pradesh was found to have almost no power plant located within 5 km of surface water bodies. Our findings emphasize the significance of the solar-agriculture-water (SAW) nexus for sustainable development. Using high-resolution Land Suitability Map (LSM) as a decision-making criteria for allocating land for power generation reveals that Rajasthan holds the highest potential for solar energy installation. Our integrated approach considering the interplay between solar-energy production, agriculture, and water-resource management contributes to the sustainable growth of the solar-energy sector and regional development.
