Page 385 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

Chapter 20 • Solar Energy Development and the Biosphere 393

FIGURE 20.2 Aerial view of 4.1 MW of integrated solar energy at the UC Davis West Village. West Village is the
largest net zero energy community in the United States, combining energy efficient technology with on-site energy
production via rooftop and vertical photovoltaic installations (Davis, California). Photo courtesy of UC Davis.

[3a]. Integrated solar energy is cohesively constructed into elements of the built environ-
ment in urban and suburban areas (e.g., commercial and residential building rooftops,
parking garages, and carports) relatively close to consumers (Fig. 20.2). Although geograph-
ically diffuse, integrated solar energy offers high levels of solar energy potential [4]; it has
been estimated that 20%–27% of all residential rooftop space and 60%–65% of commercial
rooftops in the United States are conducive to photovoltaic and solar thermal systems [5].
In contrast, displacive solar energy is that which incurs additional land-use or land-cover
change and therefore reduces biophysical capacity or facilitates the loss of other resources
of value (e.g., cultural) across the Earth's surface. These installations are typically ground-
mounted and large in capacity (e.g., utility-scale solar energy [USSE]) They are often geo-
graphically far from demand loads and preexisting transmission, and have large land area
requirements (i.e., installed capacity increases concomitantly with land area).

20.2.1 Land Requirements
To meet projected 2040 energy consumption demands, it is estimated that approxi-
2
mately 800 000 km of additional land (with spacing), an area two times that of the state of