this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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Yes.
Land use doesn't determine baseline soil quality, but soil quality often determines land use.
Seems like solar panels can be easily relocated when the land is desired to be used for agriculture. I admittedly don’t know what the loss would be on some of the power infrastructure for routing this would be though.
I believe they are relatively hard to move, but I'm not a solar expert by any stretch (though it's a different story when it comes to soil).
Somewhat related: putting panels on reclaimed tailings ponds or waste rock dumps is a good idea, in that usually these have an engineered cover (rock/soil/LDPE) That limits rooting depth (don't want plants reaching what we are trying to protect [toxic waste]) so we plant grasses and shit rather than trees. Grasses + panels is the best of both cover stability and green energy