To investigate the long-term ecological impacts of photovoltaic （PV） power stations in desert steppe ecosystems， this study was conducted at the Lingwu PV facility in Ningxia， China. We compared plant communities and soil characteristics across different microhabitats within the solar array over restoration periods of 1 and 5 years. The results indicated that the PV array created highly heterogeneous microhabitats by altering the distribution of light and heat， which significantly influenced the vegetation restoration process. A clear spatiotemporal differentiation in community succession was observed. In the initial restoration stage， pioneer species such as Salsola ruthenica were dominant. After five years， the community gradually transitioned to a stable state dominated by perennial herbs， including Ceratoides latens. Notably， in the shaded areas under the PV panels， strong environmental filtering intensified competition among shade- and drought-tolerant species. This led to a significant decrease in plant diversity indices after five years， although species richness remained high. Structural equation modeling （SEM） revealed that the restoration period is the primary driver of community succession. Microhabitat heterogeneity guides the direction of this succession by regulating soil resources， such as the availability of nitrogen and potassium. This study proposes an ecological restoration pathway for PV sites defined by “environmental filtering-resource competition-stability maintenance”， providing a scientific basis for the ecological restoration and sustainable management of PV power stations in arid regions.

Photovoltaic power plants  /  Plant diversity  /  Community succession  /  Microhabitat heterogeneity  /  Desert grassland