Net Metering

Integration of photovoltaic plants for self-consumption in public buildings/pumping stations & replacement of low-efficiency municipal lighting with LED lights

Together with the Albanian municipalities of Pustec and Kolojna, the Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP) collaborated with the Municipality of Prespa in its Net Metering project, studying the effect of public lighting and light pollution on the behaviour of bats. The main concept behind the Net Metering project, which was implemented in the framework of the “Interreg IPA CBC Greece – Albania” funding instrument, was the application of photovoltaic stations in public infrastructure and the substitution of typical public lighting with more energy-efficient and biodiversity-friendly LED lighting fixtures.

The SPP’s involvement in this project mainly focussed on assessing the impact of public lighting on bat populations, by comparing their behaviour before and after the installation of the new lighting fixtures, in collaboration with a group of Slovakian bat experts. The fieldwork, which was carried out along the public road network, as well as in and near to the villages where the interventions are planned, included activity surveys to identify the key foraging and commuting sites of bats, an assessment of light levels and light pollution and the identification of potential maternity and hibernation roost sites.

 

Articles

Uhrin, Marcel & Balogová, Monika & Vargova, Viktoria. (2021). Bats of the Prespa Basin in northern Greece: acoustic survey, new records and relationships to ligt pollution (Chiroptera). Lynx new series. 51. 147–191.