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Rapid progress of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has caused growing interest in understanding interactions between large scale PV plants and near-surface atmosphere. However few attempts have been made to quantify the impact of PV modules on surface radiative forcing and energy partitioning process. Here, this issue is explored experimentally and analytically in the two adjacent sites located at the PV plant and the natural barren field respectively in Wujiaqu in Xinjiang of China. The results showed that the physical effect of PV panels is not symmetrical in the whole day. During the daytime, compared with the reference site, net shortwave radiative forcing increases 8%, a warming effect on the integrated underlying surface (0.1 K) and a cooling effect (∼-2.6 K) on the ground surface were found in the PV plant. 9.2% of the net radiation (NR) was converted into electric energy (PE), sensible heat flux (H) increased by 30.6% hence resulted in the convection heating effects of 0.64 K and 0.32 K on the near-surface air temperature at the height of 2 m and 10 m respectively, while latent heat flux (LE) and ground surface heat flux (GS) decreased by 49% and 3% respectively related to the reference site. At night, PV panels produce a cooling effect of −0.2 K and −2.3 K on the ground and integrated underlying surface respectively, and less GS is released in the PV plant which contribute to the cooling effects of −0.24 K and −0.08 K on the air temperature at the height of 2 m and 10 m respectively related to the reference site. In the whole day, in the PV plant, H increased by 27.6%, LE and GS decreased by 47.4% and 6.7% respectively, air temperature increased by 0.16 K and 0.1 K at 2 m and 10 m respectively. • The physical effect of PV modules is not symmetrical in the whole day. • Net shortwave radiative forcing induced by PV modules increases 7.2%. • Sensible heat increases 34.4% and latent heat decreased 20.9% in PV plant related to reference site. • Ground surface heat decreases 7.4%. • The reasons of physical effect of PV modules were explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• PV plants in China's northwestern Gobi Deserts would favor lower evaporation and wind. • Local climate effects of PV plants are equivalent to or even greater than projected climate variability. • PV-induced climate effects could contribute to improving ecological conditions in Gobi Deserts. In this study, a promising photovoltaic (PV) deployment scenario is firstly designed to represent China's solar energy development in the context of its dual carbon target. Then, the potential climate effects of the designed PV plants under different emission scenarios are simulated using a newly developed weather research and forecasting (WRF)-PV regional climate model, which is initiated by the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) projections. The modeling results indicate that the projected PV plants in China's Gobi Deserts could impact the local climate, causing positive change of 3.71 ± 0.03 % in the surface relative humidity, and negative changes of 1.60 ± 1.36 W/m2 in the latent heat flux and 0.39 ± 0.00 m/s in the 10-m wind speed in July by about 2060 under the intermediate emission scenario, and these PV-induced climate effects are approximately equivalent to or even greater than the projected climate variability, but almost confined to the local area. These findings suggest that the projected PV deployment in China will lead to low carbon emissions while causing favorable climate effects, such as lower evaporation and wind speed in Gobi Deserts, which will bring environmental and ecological benefits to the PV industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The impact of wind farms on the local climate is not simply warming and cooling. • Air temperature becomes colder and the land surface temperature becomes warmer at night. • The significant increase in evapotranspiration may be due to the impact of wind farms. • Wind farm has no or negligible effect on vegetation growth both spatially and temporally. To explore the possible local climatic and environmental impacts of an onshore wind farm in North China, meteorological observation and satellite remote sensing data around the wind farm were collected, and the soil chemical composition within and outside of the wind farm was determined. Our analysis revealed changes in the spatial patterns of wind, air temperature (T a), ground surface temperature (T s), land surface temperature (LST), evapotranspiration (ET), and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from before to after the construction of the wind farm. The two datasets of meteorological observations showed that wind speed decreased after the construction of the wind farm, with one dataset indicating a significant decrease. Since the construction of the farm, T a and T s have shown increasing trends, and ET has shown a significant increasing trend. The nighttime T a and LST showed opposite trends, with T a decreasing and LST increasing. The change in LST was the greatest at the wind farm and in its downwind zone, indicating that the operation of the wind farm affects the LST within and beyond the 10 km buffer zone. After the wind farm construction, the NDVI showed a significant positive trend. However, increases in the concentrations of Ti and Co were observed, suggesting that the construction and operation of wind farm may promote vegetation growth and cause soil pollution. The monitoring of wind farms needs to be strengthened to reveal the long-term impacts of wind farms on local climates and ecosystems. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]