Professional Guide for Next-Generation Solar Parks

„Our goal is not just to make the electrical energy green, but to ensure that the developed facility can be fully integrated into the local ecological cycle. That’s why we launched this initiative, which is groundbreaking in Hungary. Solar power plants have been considered environmental investments by developers before, but the aim of integrating power plant areas into nature and the comprehensive approach to this had not appeared systematically in the domestic market until now.”
Dr. Gábor Farkas, Managing Director

Company name:

SolServices

Implementation year:

2022

Focus Areas:

Climate Protection and Adaptation, Alternative Energy Use and Energy Efficiency, Biodiversity, Consumer Awareness

Program Objective:

Whatever we do, the preservation of biodiversity is our shared responsibility. Following this principle, we have developed a unique professional guide for the creation of environmentally-friendly solar parks in Europe, which we are implementing under the name ‘Lumen Park.’ Our goal is to combine the benefits of solar energy production with nature conservation and ecosystem preservation. In addition to the sustainability of social and environmental well-being, we aim to ensure the long-term sustainability and value retention of investments. With our partners, we want to set an example for players in any industry: the key is not to compromise nature for the sake of industrial production efficiency but to find solutions for the preservation of both.

Program Measures and Commitment:

Our goal was to create the country’s leading public solar parks in a way that:

simultaneously addresses the increased demand for clean energy,
meets the growing sustainability expectations of society,
maximizes biodiversity,
minimizes the implementation footprint as much as possible.

The Lumen Park professional guide was developed in collaboration with experts from seven organizations. We reached out to potential partners at the beginning of 2020, making a concerted effort to engage a broad spectrum of industry stakeholders. The following were invited:

Engineering design firms,
Contractors,
Operators,
Small and large companies,
Environmental service providers,
NGOs (non-governmental organizations),
National parks.

The English version of the professional guide was completed in 2022, and for this occasion, we invited internationally renowned ecological researcher Hannah Montag to a professional consultation. During a multi-day workshop, we shared our findings and insights. We are currently continuing our collaboration with our partners, primarily focused on promoting the publication.

The professional guide is fundamentally built upon international research findings. It serves educational purposes by presenting the expected positive environmental impacts of solar parks, thereby educating local stakeholders. However, there were no concrete recommendations or toolkits available to achieve or potentially amplify these positive results. Based on the evaluation of international research findings, the company’s experts concluded that a solar park should be viewed as a fallow agricultural field. By applying tools that have been successfully tested in ecological agriculture, such a professional guide can be created for industry use, enabling the establishment of high-value green energy investments. This approach ultimately proved to be unique on an international level, enriching the international professional community with new ideas.

Program Impact and Results:

A professional guide has been created (in English and Hungarian) that allows for the maximization of the positive ecological and environmental impacts of solar panels, thus enabling the production of truly sustainable and clean energy.

The professional guide is actively downloaded by energy and environmental experts, educators, and laypersons from Hungary and all over the world. Based on feedback, national parks are actively using the guide when granting permits for solar parks. After the completion of solar parks, ongoing monitoring continues, so within a few years, there will be precise domestic information about the impact of solar parks on biodiversity.

Keywords:

solar energy, solar park, guide