As the world faces growing impacts of climate change, renewable energy is becoming increasingly important in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Among other renewables, solar power through photovoltaics (PV) has immense potential to produce electricity. Large-scale PV deployment will be required to produce clean electricity that meets global energy demands, but raises many concerns such as managing limited land resources for other essential land uses and ensuring fair access to clean energy. For example, arable land if used for solar power production could affect food security, while large-scale PV could also harm biodiversity. However, careful planning together with advanced PV technologies could not only generate more electricity but also provide multiple ecosystem services including agricultural commodities and biodiversity.

At the same time, energy equity – where everyone has access to clean, secure and affordable energy – is an issue in many parts of the world, especially Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. In 2022, about 91% of the world population had access to electricity, an increase from 73% in 2000 (IEA 2024). The remaining 9% (around 760 million people) remain without consistent access to electricity. Almost 2.3 billion people rely on harmful and polluting cooking fuels, leading to health risks because of air pollution and around 3.7 million premature deaths annually; the third largest cause of premature death globally. Women suffer the greater impacts, spending an average of 5-6 hours a day collecting fuel and cooking, which limits their access to education, employment and financial independence. Providing clean cooking energy could transform many lives, and PV can play a huge role in reducing these inequalities.

Globally, solar power has immense potential, especially in the Global South. However, economic barriers such as a lack of financial support, subsidies and infrastructure pose substantial challenges in meeting the goals of energy equity and a clean energy transition. Expanding PV deployment globally also requires the adoption of new technologies such as smart grids and modern transmission networks for managing issues such as intermittency. Despite these hurdles, PV offers a transformative approach for energy equity and climate action. Developing countries are in a unique position to bypass the carbon intensive electricity systems that other parts of the world are trying to replace. The availability of abundant PV potential, continuous falls in the cost of PV and aspirations for development and better lifestyles in a growing population in these countries create large scope for solar energy generation. These regions would benefit from more ambitious goals for solar PV and the support of efficient business models.

To address the challenges associated with land use change, agrivoltaics are a good example of multifunctionality in action, allowing the same land to be used simultaneously for solar energy generation and agricultural commodity production (either crops or grazing animals). The partial shading through panels also prevents crops from excessive heating in arid and semi-arid regions. The generated energy could be used to support local needs such as irrigation and processing of machinery to avoid excessive reliance on external energy sources. Real-world successful examples of agrivoltaics have already happened in Germany, Japan and India, where high value crops, e.g., grapes, berries, tea, and lettuce have been successfully grown along with solar energy generation. Another multifunctional option is PV-forestry, where degraded forest areas are restored alongside PV energy production. Urban areas, such as highways, parking lots, and roof-tops would also enable solar PV expansion without taking agricultural or open land. This will require an accurate understanding of PV potential at the location in question, as given by Saxena et al. (2023).

Technological advancements are important in maximising energy generation from the constrained land area. Advanced PV technologies such as Perovskites and III-V multijunctions offer higher efficiency of 25% and more than 40% respectively and thus can produce more energy per unit land area. These technologies limit land-use conflicts by making PV deployment compact and efficient. A reliable energy system also demands the use of advanced energy storage systems such as Lithium ion batteries, thermal energy storage, cryogenic energy storage and thermal batteries, all of which can help to stabilise intermittent supply. In a recent article, we find that conventional photovoltaic will require 0.5 to 1.2% of global land area to meet projected energy demands by 2085 without accounting for climate change effects. When considering climate impacts, this requirement increases to 0.7–1.5% of the global land area. However, utilising advanced photovoltaic technologies can reduce this area to 0.3–1.2%, effectively mitigating climate impacts.

The transition to clean energy must prioritize energy equity to ensure fair access to advanced PV technologies, affordable and accessible energy systems.  The wealthier countries are at better footing to adopt advanced PV technologies swiftly, while lower-economic countries would face challenges despite their abundant PV potential. Bridging this gap will require ambitious PV goals, equitable policies and economic support. For a successful transition to renewable energy, we must balance competing land uses, food security, biodiversity, and energy needs. By investing in advanced technologies, promoting multifunctional solutions, and implementing fair business models and policies, we can move toward a future where clean, reliable, and affordable energy is accessible to all.

Read the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01754-4