Environmental Effects of the Large Scale Photovoltaic Investments in Covasna County

Renewable energy sources in electrical energy production means one way to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. The present paper describes one model for evaluation of the energy production of the large scale photovoltaic solar energy conversion systems and it also establishes the environmental impacts assessment. The article starts with one presentation of the solar energy potential for the application sites; it shows the incident global solar irradiation for the chosen locations. In this part is presented different techniques and device used in this evaluation process. The paper indicates the cumulated energy demand in case of energy production using different photovoltaic modules in solar park construction. Additionally, a case study is presented for one of the new solar photovoltaic parks recently built in Covasna County. The new installed PV plant capacity in this region today is 40–50 kWp, based on the ANRE-Romanian Energy Regularity Authority data, but it can be increased up to 40 MWp in the following years. New PV plants can influence the environment, including the land aspects and the land usage but they have an important role in reducing the CO2 emission. All of these aspects are presented in this article. The paper also indicates the recycling procedures of the photovoltaic modules and shows the legal aspects for this process. In the second part of the study, the actual electricity production is presented; it includes PV conversion systems in Romania and it compares this trend with the local investment market. In a separate chapter, a case study is presented regarding the administrative labyrinth and legal aspects for implementing one photovoltaic park. Finally, the study indicates the environmental impact of the target value from the perspective of the energy mix established by certain EU directives. The paper also will be focused to indicate the impact of these solar parks to the biodiversity present in land, based on initially evaluation of the land biodiversity in case of these large scale solar parks.