What are the key factors influencing the establishment of large-scale solar farms in India, and what are their environmental and social impacts? How can India balance the expansion of solar energy with the need to protect biodiversity and local ecosystems?

(1) Sunlight: solar farms are better performing in dry areas with large number of sunny days per year. → most solar farms in RJ, GJ. → Bhadla (RJ)

(2) Availability of Land: solar farms require vast stretches of land to be set up.

(3) Topography: undulating lands are not conducive for setting up of solar farms.

(4) Capital: solar farms are Capital intensive as a result we see that most solar farms in India in south-western states

⑤ Policy: enabling policy ecosystem by states is also a factor.

⑥ Workforce: maintaining solar farms requires skilled workforce, its availability determines solar farm locations.

Impact

Environmental: While solar energy helps reduce GHG and mitigate climate change in the long run, in the short run they create issues of:

① Water scarcity: as solar farms need to be washed to ensure their efficiency.

② Pollution: e-waste generated creates issues of soil, water pollution

③ Biodiversity: solar farms need deforestation to ensure availability of land, also the high tension wires around solar farms pose threat to birds ↔ 90% of population of Great Indian Bustard has declined

Social (1) displacement of people from their lands. (2) loss of livelihood as land for grazing/agriculture is diverted for solar farms. (3) loss of sacred groves