UNITED STATES

Empowering environmental sustainability

Lightsource bp’s model is to develop, own and operate our solar farms throughout their full life cycle. With solar farms having a life span of around 40 years, it’s important to us to be stewards of the land and long-term partners of local communities. We call our approach Responsible Solar.

Our Responsible Solar approach to environmental sustainability

Our commitment to a sustainable future goes beyond delivering safe, clean and affordable energy. As part of our Responsible Solar approach, we design and implement site-specific Land Management and Biodiversity Plans at our projects to achieve biodiversity net gains, foster habitats and support agrivoltaics. Our vision is to be an industry leader in the innovation and use of sustainable land management and biodiversity practices to help plants, animals, soils, and people thrive throughout the lifespan of our projects.

Boosting biodiversity

Solar farms can increase ecosystem productivity and achieve biodiversity net gain.

Integrating agriculture

Agrivoltaics benefits rural economies and keeps farmland in production.

Habitat conservation

Solar farms make safe, stable homes for birds and other species.

Improving soil health

Soil rests and rejuvenates during a solar farm’s life.

Supporting pollinators

We co-locate pollinator habitat on our project sites.

Lifecycle management

We are committed to recycling all solar panels used at our US projects.

Co-locating conservation and agriculture with multiuse solar projects

The primary purpose of solar is to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation in order to mitigate climate change. Dual-use solar layers additional social, agricultural or ecosystem benefits into the solar farm.

Lightsource bp often goes a step beyond dual land use, building multiuse solar projects on which clean energy generation, agriculture, habitat enhancement, conservation, and research share the land under and around the solar panels.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The solar energy produced by our solar farms lowers greenhouse gas emissions, improving the health of people and the environment they live in. As of January 2022, our operational projects in the US abate over 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of removing over 290,000 fuel burning cars off the road each year.

Recycling & lifecycle management on solar farms

As part of our Responsible Solar approach, we’re committed to managing our solar farms across America with the best interests of communities — and the land — in mind. This includes responsible end-of-life management of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Exclusively using preferred recycling partners that have been evaluated by the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), we recycle all solar panels that are damaged or nonfunctioning during construction and operations, as well as panels that are decommissioned.

Recycling facilities that have been vetted by SEIA:

  • Must collect and process in the US, no exporting
  • Must be accredited
  • Must strive for maximum material recovery second life usage
  • Must work sustainably and promote sustainability

Lightsource bp is a board member of SEIA. Together, we are dedicated to responsible end-of-life management and are proactively developing collection and recycling processes for the solar industry as a whole.

Learn more about how we’re empowering environmental sustainability through Responsible Solar