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The Production of Solar Photovoltaic Power and Its Landscape Dimension

The Case of Andalusia (Spain)

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Renewable Energies and European Landscapes

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic power development has had various effects on the landscape, especially in rural areas, where the contrasts with other land uses are more striking. Landscape criteria are not normally taken into account in the planning and the design of these installations, and measures must therefore be taken to control and manage photovoltaic development in order to ensure that the quality of the landscape is preserved or even improved. In this case, one of the most effective landscape management tool is the integration of these installations into the landscape. In this chapter, we analyse the landscape features of these installations, and systematize their impacts on the landscape. We also offer various landscape integration proposals, as a kind of Good Practice Guide. Our case study focuses on the Andalusia region of southern Spain, where there has been very rapid development of photovoltaic power energy in recent years. We believe this is a representative case and that the results can be extrapolated to other areas in which a similar process is taking place.

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Acknowledgements

This chapter includes and enhances the results of the research project ‘Estimation of impacts and landscape integration proposals of the installations which generate solar photovoltaic power in Andalusia’, financed by the Regional Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Andalusia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geografía, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, s/n. 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Matías Mérida-Rodríguez & María-Jesús Perles-Roselló

  2. LDV Arquitectura y Paisaje S.L., Avenida España nº 3B, 29680, Estepona, Málaga, Spain

    Rafael Lobón-Martín

Authors
  1. Matías Mérida-Rodríguez
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  2. Rafael Lobón-Martín
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  3. María-Jesús Perles-Roselló
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matías Mérida-Rodríguez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Regional and Physical Geography, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Marina Frolova

  2. University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

    María-José Prados

  3. CIRED-CNRS (Centre International de Recherche sur l’Environnement et le Développement), Nogent -sur-Marne, France

    Alain Nadaï

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Mérida-Rodríguez, M., Lobón-Martín, R., Perles-Roselló, MJ. (2015). The Production of Solar Photovoltaic Power and Its Landscape Dimension. In: Frolova, M., Prados, MJ., Nadaï, A. (eds) Renewable Energies and European Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9843-3_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9843-3_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9842-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9843-3

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

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