Public opinion and influence on nature

How are PV plants perceived by the public?

Understanding how PV plants are perceived by the public is crucial for shaping policies and guidelines that reduce conflicts around new developments. While rooftop solar enjoys high acceptance in Norway, attitudes become more divided when projects shift to large, ground‑mounted installations. Overall, Norway faces the same pressures as the rest of Europe, where public conflict stems less from the technology itself and more from increasing competition for land. Despite extensive research on wind power, there is still limited knowledge about what shapes public opinion on solar power plants, and no national data identifying the drivers of local opposition.

How are large‑scale PV plants impacting the local nature, and can the impact be reduced?

The local environmental impact of large‑scale PV plants is determined mainly during planning and construction. Choices such as ground coverage ratio (GCR) and installation design (e.g., horizontal axis tracker, fixed tilt, butterfly) determines the shading on the ground. Foundations and groundwork define how much the area is altered. There is extensive knowledge on how groundwork impacts Norwegian nature, and NVE has guidelines on how it should be performed. The impacts of GCR, installation design, and foundation choices are far less understood due to limited experience with PV development.

After construction, operators can still influence environmental conditions through operation and maintenance (O&M) actions. These measures are simple and low‑cost ways to improve nature quality, though they are less effective than getting the design right from the start. Their advantage is that they can be easily implemented at existing plants.

FME SOLAR research on public opinion and PV plant’s influence on nature

To understand how PV plants are perceived by the public, we will collect national data on how people weigh competing values, such as the marginal benefit of emissions reduction versus the marginal cost of landscape fragmentation. We will also assess how PV systems installation and operation should be adapted to different types of land to reduce environmental impact. By integrating insights into social factors with findings on optimal construction and operation of PV power plants on different types of land we aim to identify solutions that harmoniously balance economic, ecological, and societal objectives in the Nordics.