How Many Birds Have Been Killed By Solar Panels

Wind turbines present an ever present danger to not only eagles and other birds of prey but also to any migratory bird that passes through areas where wind turbine farms have been constructed.

How many birds have been killed by solar panels.

We have clarified this article to explain how the solar thermal plant differs from the far more common design used in photovoltaic solar farms. Meanwhile wind turbines and solar panels are going up at a record pace and scientists are reporting a full blown crisis in the disappearance of 29 percent of north american birds. Yes birds have died at solar photovoltaic projects some of them from crashing into panels or other infrastructure. With a concentraing solar plant birds can be harmed when they fly too close to the path of the reflected solar energy.

An artificial intelligence powered birder is on the case. Fish and wildlife study earlier this year found only 233 bird deaths at three different solar farms in california over the course of two years. The estimate by biologists is that the ivanpah solar plant kills about 3 500 birds per year this way. Fish and wildlife service.

Coverage of the ivanpah bird problem has contributed to the unfounded misconception that solar panels may kill birds. Birds can be killed when they smash into the facility s solar panels the investigation concluded. A 2013 study published in the wildlife society bulletin found that wind turbines killed an estimated 573 000 birds annually in the united states. But there s hardly any science examining how many birds deaths are caused solar.

Another problem with large solar farms is that birds sometimes mistake the glossy blue expanse of solar panels for bodies of water and try to land on them. Editor s note 9 september 2019. Solar facilities kill tens of thousands of birds every year and no one is quite sure why. Bird deaths from solar farms have been estimated to be relatively low though a u s.

This is called a lake effect birds have been found dead wounded or stranded at several solar projects in the desert. As for coal those bird death numbers came from a peer reviewed study in the journal renewable energy.