Conceptualizing and assessing the effects of installation and operation of photovoltaic power plants on major hydrologic budget constituents

- Photovoltaic power plants effects on major hydrologic budget constituents are identified, conceptualized and simulated with SWAT model.
- Spatially, the effects are analyzed in basin and local (sub-basin) scale.
- The long-term effects of land use change from agricultural to photovoltaic power plants were investigated by applying downscaled climate projection data from a Regional Climate Model driven by 5 different General Circulation Models.

This study addresses the effects of land use change from agricultural to photovoltaic parks (PVPs) on the hydrology of an area. Although many environmental effects have been identified and analyzed, only minor attention has been given to the hydrologic effects of the installation and operation of PVPs. The effects of current PVP installation and operation practices on major hydrologic budget constituents (surface runoff, evapotranspiration and percolation) were identified, conceptualized, quantified and simulated using SWAT model. Vosvozis river basin located in north Greece was selected as a test site. Additionally, long-term effects were simulated using dynamically downscaled climate projections by a Regional Climate Model (RCM) driven by 5 different General Circulation Models (GCMs) for the period 2011-2100. Results indicate that surface runoff and percolation potential are significantly increased at the local scale and have to be considered during PVP siting, especially when sensitive and protected ecosystems are involved.