2022 Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 19-23
The pebble-dropping behavior of crows may be a key reason for cracks in photovoltaic panels at solar power plants. To understand the pattern of crow-induced panel cracks, we investigated the relationship between panel crack incidence and frequency of flying crows at the Komekura photovoltaic power plant in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Crow flight trajectories were monitored by camera at two research plots (Plots A and B) at the power plant from late October 2017 to early January 2018 (first period), and from late January to early March 2018 (second period). Panel cracks were observed only during the second period in Plot B, where the highest crow flight frequency was recorded: 41 birds per hour. The probabilities of panel cracks and of pebbles left on panels were positively correlated with crow flight frequency. Our observations suggest that the risk of panel cracks caused by crows increases as the frequency of crow flight at photovoltaic power plants increases.
