Using satellite images to investigate the solar panel installation and spatial injustice in Taiwan

Abstract

Due to the development of sustainable cities, renewable energy is critical, which helps resolve the problem of energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. However, solar panel (SP) Installation in Taiwan has a great conflict with Land Use Land Cover (LULC), which subsequently caused spatial injustice. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the trend of solar panel installation in Taiwan, and the LULC changes due to the SP installation. Moreover, the issues of spatial injustice were further discussed. According to the reliable results of solar panel classification from satellite images, the area of SPs in Taiwan has significantly increased by more than 15 times from 2018 to 2023. Most of the SPs were installed in Central and Southern Taiwan, which caused greater conflict with LULC than in Northern Taiwan. A greater impact on LULC changes due to SP installation was observed in Central and Southern Taiwan, which are about 52% and 49% of SP installed on natural landscapes, including agricultural, forestry, and hydraulic lands. The results showed that Central and Southern Taiwan are bearing a higher cost of LULC changes due to the development of solar energy while Northern Taiwan dominated the electricity consumption in Taiwan. Thus, an energy injustice is observed due to the uneven energy accessibility in Taiwan. The findings in this study presented a spatial injustice issue of solar energy development in Taiwan, which can be a reference to the sustainability development in Taiwan and countries with fewer land areas.