Solar farms are a great source of clean energy, but they require vast swaths of land to generate enough electricity to make a dent in our ever-growing energy needs. That frequently means displacing local wildlife, leading to more human-driven habitat loss. It doesn’t have to be that way, though, as evidenced by a field study carried out on a solar farm in Morgan County, Illinois that used a microphone to show that wildlife, including some threatened species, are thriving beneath and around the panels.
The solar farm — Morgan County Solar — located near the Illinois River, covers around 29 acres and has an operational capacity of 4 megawatts. It’s built on land that is home to the Illinois chorus frog and the regal fritillary butterfly, two species listed as endangered by to state law. According to developer Summit Ridge Energy, the company collaborated with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to determine how to responsibly develop the land while mitigating harm to natural habitats and, where possible, benefit local wildlife.
Their efforts seem to have been successful. In spring 2024, researchers installed an acoustic recorder at a pond near the solar farm to detect wildlife sounds during the Illinois chorus frog’s breeding season. The microphone ultimately captured the frog’s distinct call on 32 days out of 34, indicating normal and healthy behavior.
The fact that Summit Ridge Energy was able to build and operate a solar farm without disrupting or displacing the local Illinois chorus frog is significant. It’s a burrowing species that typically only surfaces to breed and spends most of the time in sand, which greatly limits potential habitats and means any nearby development poses a threat.
That level of care was even present when the facility was built. The project’s IDNR-approved Conservation Plan details mitigation measures that include pausing major ground work during breeding season, monitoring the land for frogs before and during construction, and daily inspections to ensure no frogs were trapped in any trenches overnight.
Morgan County Solar was also designed with the regal fritillary butterfly in mind. The solar farm planted a mix of native shortgrass seeds that don’t require annual tilling or chemical use for maintenance. Solar panels are known for restoring degraded land, as they block solar radiation and allow the soil to retain the moisture necessary for plants and microbes to thrive. Critically, the seed mix includes violets, which are vital for regal fritillary larvae and a major reason why this butterfly species is threatened.
A 2025 survey of the solar farm showed that, five years after the opening of the facility, regal fritillary butterflies are thriving. Not only that, high-quality plants and additional pollinators like bees and other butterfly species have created a productive, biodiverse habitat beneath the solar panels.
Morgan County Solar is an example of how solar farms can provide additional environmental benefits besides reducing CO₂ emissions. In central California, some solar farms have fences designed for the endangered San Joaquin kit fox that allow them to access the grounds to take shelter from predators. This is just one of many successful examples of how solar companies can design facilities — even unconventional ones like a floating solar farm in the Netherlands — that work with local wildlife instead of harming it. There are also more complex and ambitious projects in the works, such as a proposed Oregon solar farm with a wildlife corridor intended to enable free migration.
As good as these accommodations are, though, they are only small steps towards reducing and reversing human impact on the environment. Clean energy use is up, but coal, oil, and gas still make up around 80% of the total energy supply, and electricity demand is going up as a result of AI data centers and climate change–fueled heatwaves. On top of that, air pollution from continued use of fossil fuels is weakening solar power, which makes it even more difficult for solar farms to make a significant dent in overall electricity output.

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