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Sustainability trade-offs across modeled floating solar waterscapes of the Northeastern United States

Published Article

United States

Publication date: July 1, 2025

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Floating solar (FPV) in the Northeast U.S. could supply 25% of regional solar needs while sparing land. Prioritizing biodiversity and social values reduces impact, with 5% added solar potential. A holistic siting framework balances energy goals with sustainability, supporting diverse development objectives.

Subject Tags

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate mitigation
  • Renewable energy

Abstract

Expansion of floating photovoltaic (FPV) solar systems provides a low-conflict renewable energy option to help mitigate climate change while sparing land, but potential sustainability trade-offs remain unquantified. We compare the technical potential of maximum FPV deployment to address the climate crisis with FPV-buildout scenarios that prioritize biodiversity and social values across waterscapes. FPV deployment on all technically suitable waterbodies (3.5% of available sites) in the Northeastern US could generate nearly a quarter of the region's solar energy while offsetting all the land required for solar by 2050, but trade-offs, including maintenance of freshwater biodiversity and recreational benefits, exist. Avoidance of socioenvironmental interactions yields FPV-electricity generation potential equal to a 5% increase in regional solar generation while sparing water for biodiversity and social values, though opportunities for co-location make this a conservative estimate. Our framework extends technical potential assessments to holistically inform FPV siting and support diverse Sustainable Development Goals.

Citation

Gallaher, A., Kalies, E.L. and Grodsky, S.M., 2025. Sustainability trade-offs across modeled floating solar waterscapes of the Northeastern United States. Cell Reports Sustainability.

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