Wind and solar energy have unparalleled advantages in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting energy transitions. However, the construction of onshore wind/solar farms occupies a tremendous amount of land resources and changes land use considerably. The operation of power generation facilities further changes the local microclimate and ecohydrological processes, profoundly affecting terrestrial carbon cycle processes. Therefore, it is important to clarify the potential impacts of wind/solar farms on the carbon cycle process at the site for sustainable development of the new energy industry. A systematic review of the research undertaken over the past two decades was conducted in this study, with special emphasis on the carbon cycle characteristics, impact mechanisms, and the dynamics and stability of carbon pools in onshore wind/solar farms. The results indicate that these wind/solar farms have the potential to improve local climate conditions, promote the restoration of vegetation, and thus increase the carbon sequestration potential in arid desert environments. However, considerable uncertainties exist regarding the recovery potential of either vegetation or soil carbon pools for wind/solar farms. We argue that there is an urgent need to \mathrm{①} conduct multi-scale and long-term monitoring of the carbon cycling processes in wind/solar farms, \mathrm{②} strengthen research on the synergistic mechanisms of the above- and below-ground carbon processes in onshore wind/solar farms, and \mathrm{③} quantitatively determine the carbon sequestration potential and its spatial and temporal characteristics in wind/solar farms. These efforts are expected to provide scientific references for sustainable design, management, and development of renewable energy sources in the future.