Land Use Dynamics and Ecological Effects of Photovoltaic Development in Xinjiang: A Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis

作者：Babierjiang Dilixiati, Hongwei Wang, Lichun Gong, Jianxin Wei, Lei Cheng, Lingzhi Dang, Xinyuan Zhang, Wen Gu, Huanjun Zhang, Jiayue Zhang · 发表于：Land · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/land14061294 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Energy and Environment Impacts、Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability

As an important part of the emerging energy portfolio, the coordinated development of the photovoltaic (PV) industry and ecological environment is a core factor in realizing the high-quality development of the energy industry. Xinjiang, located in northwestern China, possesses vast open land, abundant solar radiation, and low land-use conflict, making it a strategic hub for large-scale PV power station deployment. However, the region’s fragile ecological background is highly sensitive to land-use changes induced by PV infrastructure expansion. Therefore, scientifically evaluating the ecological impacts of PV construction is essential to support environmentally informed operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies.This study investigates the spatial distribution of PV installations and their macro-scale ecological effects across Xinjiang from 2000 to 2020. Utilizing multi-temporal satellite remote sensing data and geospatial analysis techniques on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, we constructed a Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) model to quantify the long-term ecological response to PV development. It was found that PV installations were concentrated in unutilized land (37.10%) and grassland (34.45%), with the smallest proportion being found in forested land (1.68%). Nearly 70% of the PV areas showed an improving trend in the ecological environment index, and there were significantly more ecological quality-improving areas than degraded areas (69% vs. 31%). Ther...