Solar Park Innovation Challenge

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and the transition to a climate-neutral society is one which we passionately and actively support. Accounting for around 70% of human-caused greenhouse gases, the energy required for electricity, heat and transport is the main contributor to climate change. Therefore, the sector is also vital for initiatives which aim to reduce emissions. One route to reducing emissions is to change the way energy is produced and consumed, for example, through the deployment of renewable energy sources such as solar power. 

Solar power is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy yet finding a viable site is one of the biggest obstacles in setting up utility-scale, solar farm projects. Multiple factors need to be considered when identifying a suitable location ranging from the quality of the terrain and amount of solar radiation to the proximity to utilities and land ownership issues. While field data and aerial photographs can show land cover and use over smaller areas, as the area of study gets bigger, these methods become very costly and time consuming. An additional hindrance is the lack of easy-to-use digital tools which integrate the multiple data points needed to make a decision on a site.

We're looking for technically feasible, innovative solutions that can offer a more efficient process for the selection of solar farm sites. Remote sensing via. satellite imagery is an excellent data source to map land cover and use. While there are obstacles, for example cloud cover or coarse resolution, images can cover large geographic areas and many are available at low or no cost. As well as using satellite remote sensing data we encourage applicants to solve this challenge using combinations of data from different sources.

Your solution should address one or more of the following end user groups: 

• Solar farm developers who are searching for suitable potential sites or are, for example, preparing planning applications or due diligence reports 
• Local authorities who are looking to inform policies and identify areas which are geographically appropriate for solar farm development
• Landowners who wish to better understand the potential of their own land to accommodate solar farming 
• Investors and other solar park project stakeholders