Researchers studied 20 French solar farms; beneath the panels, pollinators fell 76%, and plant-pollinator interactions plunged 86%

Solar energy is often seen as the good guys in the climate story. But a new study takes a closer look at what happens on the ground once the panels are in place. A 2025 study in the journal Biological Conservation found that areas directly under solar panels had a 76% drop in numbers of pollinators and a striking 86% decline in plant-pollinator interactions, compared to nearby unshaded open land. The researchers surveyed 20 solar parks in southern France.

What the scientists actually did

Led by Arnaud Lec'hvien and colleagues from French universities and research institutes, the research team did not just guess the impact. They compared three areas within every solar park: the area underneath the panels, the "inter-rows" (gaps between the rows of panels), and the area that is always sunny. Researchers recorded the number of pollinators, including bees, hoverflies, and butterflies, and how often they visited flowers in each area. That matters because pollinators do more than make gardens pretty. They help most flowering plants reproduce and support the food chains that farms and ecosystems depend on.


The numbers behind the buzz

The findings were clear. In the shadowed area underneath the solar panels, where sunlight does not reach for most of the day, pollinator visitation and interactions were significantly lower compared to the open areas. By contrast, the inter-row area, the partially shaded strip between panel rows, fell between the two extremes: better than under the panels but not as good as the areas that got full sun.

The pattern is consistent with the role of sunlight in supporting flowering plants. For bees and other pollinators, flowering plants are their source of sustenance, and these flowering plants need sunlight for photosynthesis and reproduction. Solar panels create microclimatic conditions in the shade where they are installed by changing light and moisture levels in this area. Fewer flowers means fewer pollinators with a reason to stop by.

Why shade and mowing matter

One thing that stood out in the study is how the park itself is managed. Researchers compared plots that were grazed by animals to plots that were mowed and found that grazing reduced pollinator numbers more than mowing did. That suggests it’s not just the panels themselves that determine how much wildlife survives around and under them, but how solar companies manage the land. The result suggests that solar park operators can influence outcomes through land management. Simple changes, such as switching from heavy grazing to mowing or leaving strips of wildflowers untouched, can reduce the impact on local pollinators.

Solar power doesn't have to cost us bees

This study shouldn't be read as an argument against solar power. A study titled ‘Solar park management and design to boost bumble bee populations’ in Environmental Research Letters notes that solar parks can become pollinator refuges if managed and designed with wildlife in mind. Specifically, the study showed that solar sites with wildflower meadows hosted almost twice as many bumble bees foraging and nesting as those where wildflowers were only provided in narrow strips. This suggests that land use does not automatically harm insects; the impact depends on how the land is managed.

A broader review in Conservation Letters makes a similar point, saying that while solar development can alter habitats for plants, insects and other wildlife, careful design and mitigation measures can minimize many of these impacts. The authors of that review note that robust, comparative data on solar farms and biodiversity is still relatively sparse, which is precisely why studies like the French one are so valuable.

The takeaway for a warming world

Solar panels are expanding globally, including in France, but their land-use impacts still need careful management. However, these findings underscore that “green” energy projects impact the real ecosystem, and we need to consider that, not just celebrate. The solution is not a choice between solar power and pollinators. It is more about designing solar parks to let sunlight reach some patches of ground, using mowing instead of heavy grazing, and planting pollinator-friendly vegetation in the sunnier strips between and around the panels. These measures do not slow the clean-energy transition. They just make sure bees, butterflies, and the plants that rely on them aren't collateral damage in the process.