Solar Footprints in California

<p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><b><font size='3'>Solar Footprints in California</font></b></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' size='3'>This GIS dataset consists of polygons that represent the footprints of solar powered electric generation facilities and related infrastructure in California called Solar Footprints. The location of solar footprints was identified using other existing solar footprint datasets from various sources along with imagery interpretation. CEC staff reviewed footprints identified with imagery and digitized polygons to match the visual extent of each facility. Previous datasets of existing solar footprints used to locate solar facilities include:  </font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'><b>GIS Layers:</b> (1) California Solar Footprints, (2) </font><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>UC Berkeley Solar Points, (3) </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>Kruitwagen et al. 2021, (4) </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>BLM Renewable Project Facilities, (5) </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>Quarterly Fuel and Energy Report (QFER)</span></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'><b>Imagery Datasets:</b> </font><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'>Esri World Imagery, </font><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>USGS National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), 2020 </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>SENTINEL 2 Satellite Imagery, 2023</span></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>Solar facilities with large footprints such as parking lot solar, large rooftop solar, and ground solar were included in the solar footprint dataset. Small scale solar (approximately less than 0.5 acre) and residential footprints were not included. No other data was used in the production of these shapes. Definitions for the solar facilities identified via imagery are subjective and described as follows: </span><br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' size='3'><b>Rooftop Solar</b>: Solar arrays located on rooftops of large buildings. </font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' size='3'><b>Parking lot Solar</b>: Solar panels on parking lots roughly larger than 1 acre, or clusters of solar panels in adjacent parking lots. </font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' size='3'><b>Ground Solar</b>: Solar panels located on ground roughly larger than 1 acre, or large clusters of smaller scale footprints. </font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>Once all footprints identified by the above criteria were digitized for all California counties, the features were visually classified into ground, parking and rooftop categories. The features were also classified into rural and urban types using the 42 U.S. Code § 1490 definition for rural. In addition, the distance to the closest substation and the percentile category of this distance (e.g. 0-25th percentile, 25th-50th percentile) was also calculated. The coverage provided by this data set should not be assumed to be a complete accounting of solar footprints in California. Rather, this dataset represents an attempt to improve upon existing solar feature datasets and to update the inventory of &quot;large&quot; solar footprints via imagery, especially in recent years since previous datasets were published. </span><br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' size='3'>This procedure produced a total solar project footprint of 150,250 acres. Attempts to classify these footprints and isolate the large utility-scale projects from the smaller rooftop solar projects identified in the data set is difficult. The data was gathered based on imagery, and project information that could link multiple adjacent solar footprints under one larger project is not known. However, partitioning all solar footprints that are at least partly outside of the techno-economic exclusions and greater than 7 acres yields a total footprint size of 133,493 acres. These can be approximated as utility-scale footprints.  </font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><b><font size='3'>Metadata: (1) CBI Solar Footprints</font></b></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><font size='3'>Abstract: Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) created this dataset of solar footprints in California after it was found that no such dataset was publicly available at the time (Dec 2015-Jan 2016). This dataset is used to help identify where current ground based, mostly utility scale, solar facilities are being constructed and will be used in a larger landscape intactness model to help guide future development of renewable energy projects. The process of digitizing these footprints first began by utilizing an excel file from the California Energy Commission with lat/long coordinates of some of the older and bigger locations. After projecting those points and locating the facilities utilizing NAIP 2014 imagery, the developed area around each facility was digitized. While interpreting imagery, there were some instances where a fenced perimeter was clearly seen and was slightly larger than the actual footprint. For those cases the footprint followed the fenced perimeter since it limits wildlife movement through the area. In other instances, it was clear that the top soil had been scraped of any vegetation, even outside of the primary facility footprint. These footprints included the areas that were scraped within the fencing since, especially in desert systems, it has been near permanently altered. Other sources that guided the search for solar facilities included the Energy Justice Map, developed by the Energy Justice Network which can be found here:</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><a href='https://www.energyjustice.net/map/searchobject.php?gsMapsize=large&amp;amp;giCurrentpageiFacilityid;=1&amp;amp;gsTable;=facility&amp;amp;gsSearchtype;=advanced' style='color:rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;' rel='nofollow ugc'><font size='3'>https://www.energyjustice.net/map/searchobject.php?gsMapsize=large&amp;amp;giCurrentpageiFacilityid;=1&amp;amp;gsTable;=facility&amp;amp;gsSearchtype;=advanced</font></a></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><font size='3'>The Solar Energy Industries Association’s “Project Location Map” which can be found here:</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><font size='3'><span style='font-family:inherit;'> </span><a href='https://www.seia.org/map/majorprojectsmap.php' style='color:rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;' rel='nofollow ugc'>https://www.seia.org/map/majorprojectsmap.php</a></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><font size='3'>also assisted in locating newer facilities along with the &quot;Power Plants&quot; shapefile, updated in December 16th, 2015, downloaded from the U.S. Energy Information Administration located here:</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><a href='https://www.eia.gov/maps/layer_info-m.cfm' style='color:rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line:none; font-family:inherit;' rel='nofollow ugc'><font size='3'>https://www.eia.gov/maps/layer_info-m.cfm</font></a></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><font size='3'>There were some facilities that were stumbled upon while searching for others, most of these are smaller scale sites located near farm infrastructure. Other sites were located by contacting counties that had solar developments within the county. Still, others were located by sleuthing around for proposals and company websites that had images of the completed facility. These helped to locate the most recently developed sites and these sites were digitized based on landmarks such as ditches, trees, roads and other permanent structures.</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><b>Metadata: <font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>(2) </font><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>UC Berkeley Solar Points</span></b><br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif' size='3'>UC Berkeley report containing point location for energy facilities across the United States.</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><a href='https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Feta-publications.lbl.gov%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2022_utility-scale_solar_data_update.xlsm&amp;wdOrigin=BROWSELINK' rel='nofollow ugc'><font size='3'>2022_utility-scale_solar_data_update.xlsm (live.com)</font></a></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><b>Metadata: <span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>(3) </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>Kruitwagen et al. 2021</span></b><br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generating capacity has grown by 41 per cent per year </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>since 2009. Energy system projections that mitigate climate change and aid universal </span><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'>energy access show a nearly ten-fold increase in PV solar energy generating capacity </font><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>by 2040. Geospatial data describing the energy system are required to manage </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>generation intermittency, mitigate climate change risks, and identify trade-offs with </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>biodiversity, conservation and land protection priorities caused by the land-use and </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>land-cover change necessary for PV deployment. Currently available inventories of </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>solar generating capacity cannot fully address these needs. Here we provide a global </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>inventory of commercial-, industrial- and utility-scale PV installations (that is, PV </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>generating stations in excess of 10 kilowatts nameplate capacity) by using a </span><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'>longitudinal corpus of remote sensing imagery, machine learning and a large cloud </font><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>computation infrastructure. We locate and verify 68,661 facilities, an increase of 432 </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>per cent (in number of facilities) on previously available asset-level data. With the help </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>of a hand-labelled test set, we estimate global installed generating capacity to be </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>423 gigawatts (−75/+77 gigawatts) at the end of 2018. Enrichment of our dataset with </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>estimates of facility installation date, historic land-cover classification and proximity </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>to vulnerable areas allows us to show that most of the PV solar energy facilities are </span><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'>sited on cropland, followed by arid lands and grassland. Our inventory could aid PV </font><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>delivery aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals</span></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><a href='https://caenergy.sharepoint.com/sites/EnergyResourceLandUsePlanning/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FEnergyResourceLandUsePlanning%2FShared%20Documents%2FSB100%20Land%20Use%20%28Shared%20Folder%29%2FReferences%20and%20Scientific%20Papers%2FOutsideResearch%5FSH%2Fglobal%5Fpv%5Finventory%5Fall%2FKruitwagen%5Fetal%5FNature%2Epdf&amp;parent=%2Fsites%2FEnergyResourceLandUsePlanning%2FShared%20Documents%2FSB100%20Land%20Use%20%28Shared%20Folder%29%2FReferences%20and%20Scientific%20Papers%2FOutsideResearch%5FSH%2Fglobal%5Fpv%5Finventory%5Fall' rel='nofollow ugc'>Energy Resource Land Use Planning - Kruitwagen_etal_Nature.pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)</a><br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><b>Metadata: </b><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>(4) </span><span style='font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'>BLM Renewable Project</span></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'>To identify renewable energy approved and pending lease areas on BLM administered lands. To provide information about solar and wind energy applications and completed projects within the State of California for analysis and display internally and externally. This feature class denotes &quot;verified&quot; renewable energy projects at the California State BLM Office, displayed in GIS. The term &quot;Verified&quot; refers to the GIS data being constructed at the California State Office, using the actual application/maps with legal descriptions obtained from the renewable energy company.</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'> https://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/renewable_energy</font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'> https://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/wo/MINERALS__REALTY__AND_RESOURCE_PROTECTION_/energy/solar_and_wind.Par.70101.File.dat/Public%20Webinar%20Dec%203%202014%20-%20Solar%20and%20Wind%20Regulations.pdf<br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font size='3'><a href='https://gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com/maps/blm-ca-renewable-energy-projects/about' rel='nofollow ugc'>BLM CA Renewable Energy Projects | BLM GBP Hub (arcgis.com)</a><br /></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><font size='3'><b>Metadata: </b> (5) Quarterly Fuel and Energy Report (QFER)<b> </b></font></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem; font-family:&quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;'><a href='https://caenergy.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7b7049ff7eff4bf4a376e4cd03c8df9a' style='color:rgb(0, 94, 149); font-family:inherit;' rel='nofollow ugc'><span style='font-family:inherit; color:blue;'><font size='3'>California Power Plants - Overview (arcgis.com)</font></span></a></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><br /></p><p style='margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:1.5rem;'><font face='Avenir Next W01, Avenir Next W00, Avenir Next, Avenir, Helvetica Neue, sans-serif'><span style='font-size:16px;'><br /></span></font></p>

Tags: California Energy Commission, California Natural Resources Agency, Landcover, SB100, Solar, energy infrastructure
Organization: California Energy Commission