Mapping UK solar farms for biodiversity assessments: An up‐to‐date, open‐access spatial dataset derived from satellite imagery

Solar photovoltaic energy is expanding rapidly across the United Kingdom. An up‐to‐date, open‐access spatial dataset is essential to support the assessment of ecological and environmental impacts and to guide the sustainable implementation of this clean energy infrastructure. To this purpose, we used the Renewable Energy Planning Database along with satellite and aerial imagery to identify and map solar farms across the United Kingdom. Solar farms were manually digitised using a standardised method, enabling our dataset to be used in multiple fields of research, assessments and policy decisions. The dataset contains a total of 1300 solar farms, which makes it the most up‐to‐date spatial assessment in the United Kingdom. The total land area occupied by solar farms is 17,635 ha, with a total installed capacity of more than 10,762 MW. Between 2011 and 2024, the average land area per MW of installed capacity almost halved, with currently 1.2 ha of land required per MW installed capacity. Most solar farms were constructed on arable land (64.1%) and improved grassland (30.1%). The predominant Agricultural Land Classification of UK solar farms is Grade 3 (good to moderate quality agricultural land); however, current spatial resolution of land classification does not allow differentiating between Grade 3a and 3b, a crucial marker of land quality. Solar farms were predominantly constructed over grassland in Northern Ireland and Wales, whereas arable dominated in the East. Hedges were present at over 70% of solar farms, with median hedge length at 118 m (range 2–2874 m). Solution : This dataset is a consistent, open‐access resource that will facilitate research on the ecological and other impacts of the rapidly expanding solar farm industry in the United Kingdom.