According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.
根据太阳能行业协会的数据，在过去十年中，安装的太阳能电池板数量迅速增长，为了实现气候目标，必须增长得更快。但所有这些增长都将占用大量空间，尽管越来越多的人接受太阳能的概念，但很少有人喜欢在附近安装大型太阳能电池板。
Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven't given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they'll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.
太阳能开发商希望尽快、尽可能便宜地安装太阳能电池板，因此他们没有过多考虑在电池板下安装什么。通常，他们最终会用小石头填满这个区域，并使用化学物质来控制杂草。其结果是，许多社区，特别是在农业区，将太阳能发电厂视为土壤的破坏者。
“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment (InSPIRE) project."They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy." InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to "low-impact'' solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators.
“太阳能项目需要成为好邻居，”创新场地准备和环境影响减少（InSPIRE）项目负责人Jordan Macknick说，“他们需要成为土地的保护者，为农业经济做出贡献。”InSPIRE正在研究“低影响”太阳能开发的实用方法，该方法侧重于以对土地更友好的方式建立和运营太阳能农场。最简单的低影响太阳能策略之一是为传粉昆虫提供栖息地。
Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S.agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.
在过去的几十年里，栖息地的丧失、杀虫剂的使用和气候变化导致传粉昆虫种群急剧下降，这损害了美国的农业经济。超过28个州通过了与传粉媒介栖息地保护和杀虫剂使用有关的法律。保护组织为家庭花园、企业、学校、城市发布了传粉媒介友好指南，现在也有了太阳能农场的指南。
Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that's going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.
在过去的几年里，许多太阳能发电场开发商将太阳能电池板下的空间改造成了各种传粉昆虫的庇护所，从而改善了土壤和减少了碳排放。“这些对传粉昆虫友好的太阳能农场可以对本地发生的一切产生宝贵的影响，”Macknick说。