PV Modules Stored on Farmlands after Repowering: Sustainability and Environmental Impact

Ground‑mounted photovoltaics, including agrivoltaic concepts, are increasingly deployed on agricultural land. In practice, damaged modules from repowering modules are sometimes stored on‑site for prolonged periods, creating localized vegetation suppression and land‑stewardship concerns that are rarely quantified. We present two anonymized case studies from Czechia (nominal capacities of 0.861 and 1.109 MWp; commissioned 2010 and 2009; repowered 2022 and 2021), where cracked backsheets and/or broken front‑glass modules were stacked and stored directly on grasslands within PV parcels. Using GIS delineation on orthophotos supported by field photographs, we quantified the land area (19,560 and 22,100 m²), PV panel area (plan‑ view; 4,960 and 5,080 m²), and stored PV module area (plan‑ view storage footprint; 109 and 100 m²). Stored module counts were estimated from visible stacks (≈1800 and ≈2000 modules). Using a conservative mass range of 18–25 kg/module, the stored masses were ~32–45 t and ~36–50 t, respectively. Although the storage footprints constitute