Background The desert area is rich in solar energy and land resources, where a large number of centralized photovoltaic power stations have been built and deployed. The ecological environment in desert area is fragile and susceptible to changes in land use patterns. Therefore, clarifying the impact of photovoltaic power station construction on local climate, hydrology, soil and vegetation is critical for developing the photovoltaic industry. However, currently related researches are relatively scattered, with results controversial. It is urgent to sort out the research on the climatic and ecological impacts of photovoltaic power stations in desert area, especially to clarify the ecological environment mechanism and ecological restoration mode of desert photovoltaic power stations.

Methods This article mainly analyzed the impact of desert photovoltaic power stations on climate, hydrology, soil and vegetation through literature review. The literature was retrieved by inputting topics in CNKI and Web of Science, with "desert photovoltaic" "photovoltaic ecology" "photovoltaic climate" "photovoltaic soil" "photovoltaic plant" and "photovoltaic vegetation restoration" entered in sequence. Then we mainly selected journal articles and dissertations that closely focus on the impact of desert photovoltaic power stations on climate, ecology, soil and vegetation, ecological environment and vegetation restoration themes. Finally, sixteen international and 35 domestic papers or reports were used as references.

Results 1) The impact on climate is reducing surface albedo and increasing net radiation, increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity of lower air during daytime, as well as reducing wind speed and changing wind direction. 2) The impact on hydrology and soil is redistributing precipitation due to interception and collection, cooling and humidifying the surface soil, increasing water content, and reducing evapotranspiration. 3) The impact on vegetation is increasing the regional normalized vegetation index, vegetation coverage, species diversity and biomass, and overall playing a positive role in promoting vegetation restoration and enhancing the carbon sequestration. 4) The impact on the ecological environment is caused by changes in radiation and energy balance due to the obstruction of soil radiation by photovoltaic panels, as well as a series of changes in temperature, wind, precipitation, soil physical and chemical properties, evapotranspiration, vegetation and ecological functions within the station. 5) Three vegetation restoration modes suitable for desert photovoltaic power stations under different rainfall conditions are summarized, namely natural restoration, artificial planting restoration, and a combination of grass grid, artificial planting, and drip irrigation technology restoration.

Conclusions This article summarizes the impact of desert photovoltaic power stations on climate ecology, clarifies the ecological environment mechanism and ecological restoration mode. In the future, it is still necessary to deepen the research on the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of energy and material distribution within desert photovoltaic power stations, and further promote the construction of desert photovoltaic power stations and vegetation restoration.