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Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

Can heat from large-scale solar installations harm birds?

By Jiyul Kim
YES

While generating clean electricity benefits birds, thermal solar installations are particularly harmful to them as they produce concentrated yet invisible areas of intense heat. According to a 2016 study, utility-scale solar farms in the U.S. may kill up to 138,600 birds annually. This number is less than 0.1% of the estimated number of birds killed by fossil-fueled power plants, but researchers expect such bird fatalities to almost triple as more solar farms come online.

Birds can also mistake panels for bodies of water and try to land on them, resulting in injury or death, though adding special patterns to panels can mitigate risk. More research on the subject is being conducted as not much is known about this issue.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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