Large-Scale US Solar Farms Brings 'Solar Grazing' Work for Sheep (go.com) 49
"As large-scale solar farms crop up across the U.S.," reports ABC News, "the booming solar industry has found an unlikely mascot..." Sheep.
In Milam County, outside Austin [Texas], SB Energy operates the fifth-largest solar project in the country, capable of generating 900 megawatts of power across 4,000 acres (1,618 hectares). How do they manage all that grass? With the help of about 3,000 sheep, which are better suited than lawnmowers to fit between small crevices and chew away rain or shine. The proliferation of sheep on solar farms is part of a broader trend — solar grazing — that has exploded alongside the solar industry. Agrivoltaics, a method using land for both solar energy production and agriculture, is on the rise with more than 60 solar grazing projects in the U.S., according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The American Solar Grazing Association says 27 states engage in the practice. "The industry tends to rely on gas-powered mowers, which kind of contradicts the purpose of renewables," SB Energy asset manager James Hawkins said... Because solar fields use sunny, flat land that is often ideal for livestock grazing, the power plants have been used in coordination with farmers rather than against them....
Some agriculture experts say [solar sheepherders'] success reflects how solar farms have become a boon for some ranchers. Reid Redden, a sheep farmer and solar vegetation manager in San Angelo, Texas, said a successful sheep business requires agricultural land that has become increasingly scarce. "Solar grazing is probably the biggest opportunity that the sheep industry had in the United States in several generations," Redden said. The response to solar grazing has been overwhelmingly positive in rural communities near South Texas solar farms where Redden raises sheep for sites to use, he said. "I think it softens the blow of the big shock and awe of a big solar farm coming in," Redden said.
The American Solar Grazing Association says 27 states engage in the practice. "The industry tends to rely on gas-powered mowers, which kind of contradicts the purpose of renewables," SB Energy asset manager James Hawkins said... Because solar fields use sunny, flat land that is often ideal for livestock grazing, the power plants have been used in coordination with farmers rather than against them....
Some agriculture experts say [solar sheepherders'] success reflects how solar farms have become a boon for some ranchers. Reid Redden, a sheep farmer and solar vegetation manager in San Angelo, Texas, said a successful sheep business requires agricultural land that has become increasingly scarce. "Solar grazing is probably the biggest opportunity that the sheep industry had in the United States in several generations," Redden said. The response to solar grazing has been overwhelmingly positive in rural communities near South Texas solar farms where Redden raises sheep for sites to use, he said. "I think it softens the blow of the big shock and awe of a big solar farm coming in," Redden said.
Dick (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dick (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, there's cheaper ways to produce electricity, and ways that aren't removing the ability of the land to produce crops such as wind power.
I live a few miles west of that installation. You can easily pick it out on Google Maps. Zoom in on the area just north of Manda, Texas...
While I understand the sentiment... The area is "Blackland prairie", with lots of expansive clay's in the soils. Mostly field corn, milo, and cotton are grown... Corn gets planted in early March, and is over and done by July. Too hot in the summer for much else. By July if there's no tropical storms, everything else needs irrigation or dies.
Also... Hydro is mostly a joke in Texas. The whole state has 4 natural lakes. All the rest are man made. They do have hydro power plants, but they're low head and hence low output. The lakes are to save the precious water, and for flood control.
T
Re:Dick (Score:5, Informative)
I'd rather we'd not put solar panels over land that is suited for growing crops.
Solar works best where there are few clouds, which means little rain, which means not good for growing crops.
Pasture requires less rain than row crops.
with so much of the land in shadow it's not going to be producing near the same amount of grass for the sheep as if left as an open field.
Not true.
In arid regions, the limit for plant growth is water, not sunshine, so the partial shade from the panels actually increases the yield by reducing evaporation and lowering the soil temperature.
Data shows improved grass forage under solar panels [pv-magazine.com].
The panels also provide shade for the sheep.
Re:Dick (Score:4, Informative)
Your cited source is to an 18 month study, I have my doubts that proves much of anything.
Given that response I have my doubts anything could convince you to change your pre-conceived opinion.
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Your cited source is to an 18 month study, I have my doubts that proves much of anything
Have you ever weedwhacked around solar panels? The grass grows about the same height below and near them, except right around the poles, where condensation provides more water and it grows higher.
I know you have never been able to do this in your history of Slashdot use, but why not leave the declarative commenting to people with some kind of experience in the thing being discussed? Just can't stand to not have your name attached to conversations about things you know nothing about?
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Your cited source is to an 18 month study, I have my doubts that proves much of anything
Have you ever weedwhacked around solar panels? The grass grows about the same height below and near them, except right around the poles, where condensation provides more water and it grows higher.
I know you have never been able to do this in your history of Slashdot use, but why not leave the declarative commenting to people with some kind of experience in the thing being discussed? Just can't stand to not have your name attached to conversations about things you know nothing about?
To address his need for long term study, the vegetation below our solar installs is in no danger of disappearing, and some of those installs are 10 years or so.
Not addressed is that if we need to, solar farms could probably be designed to grow crops between the panels - I'm not suggesting that, because the farms are nice for avian life, and can support sheep as well. Seems like a win to me.
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I'd rather we'd not put solar panels over land that is suited for growing crops.
Solar works best where there are few clouds, which means little rain, which means not good for growing crops.
Pasture requires less rain than row crops.
Here in PA, hardly a parched desert, we have a lot of solar installs and growing. We could farm it instead if wanted. So anyhow, Posters comment is irrelevant. I wonder if they are as concerned about open pit and strip mines. A lot more area so far, and that mined land will never be used for crops again.
with so much of the land in shadow it's not going to be producing near the same amount of grass for the sheep as if left as an open field.
Not true.
In arid regions, the limit for plant growth is water, not sunshine, so the partial shade from the panels actually increases the yield by reducing evaporation and lowering the soil temperature.
Data shows improved grass forage under solar panels [pv-magazine.com].
The panels also provide shade for the sheep.
The underside of the panels promote avian life as well. Any place that can handle a nest will get one.
You are right, a surprising amount of vegetation shows up under the panels. And sheep is a great way to
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I think you'll find the farmers have a lot of say in what land gets selected. They know what's suitable to retire to less intensive uses.
Re:Dick (Score:4, Insightful)
You're missing something. The largest land use in the US is not farmland, it is grazing land. About 590 million acres of the 1.9 billion acres of the continental US is used for grazing. Cropland is considerably less, about 380 million acres.
Turns out, solar panels do not shade 100% of the land area, and grass doesn't need 100% solar intensity. It's a good match.
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You're missing something.
Am I?
The largest land use in the US is not farmland, it is grazing land. About 590 million acres of the 1.9 billion acres of the continental US is used for grazing. Cropland is considerably less, about 380 million acres. Turns out, solar panels do not shade 100% of the land area, and grass doesn't need 100% solar intensity. It's a good match.
That's no counter to what I pointed out before.
It most certainly is. In a discussion about putting solar panels on grazing land, you replied with a long thread about "I'd rather we'd not put solar panels over land that is suited for growing crops."
The big land use, and the land use that we're talking about, is not solar panels over land suitable for growing crops.
But, ignoring that all this is irrelevant, because the discussion is about solar panels on grazing land, not farmland, you continue:
Solar power is still more expensive than wind power,
Very location dependent, but overall, no, the opposite. Exa
"Firm" energy concept is misleading (Score:3)
The argument about "firm" energy is usually repeated but it's misleading.
Energy grid is about match demand and generation.
Yes. Uncontrolled renewable doesn't match, and the only way without storage or mix is just adding a ridiculous high renewable power.
But the people repeat about "firm" is just fixed in the old past. There is dispatchable and non-dispatchable energy producers.
The very old ways where hydro, which is dispatchable, next coal, that it's partially dispatchable (slow adaptation, so you need to o
Re:Dick (Score:4, Informative)
Sheep under solar for pasture land is ideal for the farmer too
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Naw, those are electric. No surprise there.
No shit (Score:2)
Sorry, I just could not help myself.
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I'm sure the sheep produce plenty of shit after feeding on that grass.
Calling General Specific (Score:3)
Now he can use Sheep AND an entire solar array to power his sheep-powered ray gun [fandom.com]!
Gas mowers?! (Score:4, Interesting)
The sheep make sense but why were they using gas mowers before? All that electricity right there and they didn't use battery powered ones?!
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Batteries are/were expensive. That's still something to be improved a lot over the coming decades. Battery longevity(reliability and charging rate)/$, and battery energy density/$.
Re:Gas mowers?! (Score:4, Insightful)
Battery longevity
2025 and still with this bullshit complaint? Is that just because this article is about solar and you can't complain that the power comes from a coal plant?
As for battery energy density, it's a lawnmower, not an airplane. Electric mowers are common.
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LOL, are you serious? These things aren't garden mowers.
BTW: I'm not pro-fossil fuels at all. I love both Wind and Solar power. I was just explaining how purchasing happens. Unless there is a mandate to use a particular solution then price wins.
And the sheep solution is wonderful. Win-win for all. Prairie fed will be nicer meat too.
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LOL, are you serious? These things aren't garden mowers.
No shit they aren't. They are larger tractors costing double digit thousands of dollars... And electric variants are common unless the only company you think that exists starts with the name John. Where I live the council converted to large electric mowers years ago for park and highway side maintenance.
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My point is the price of the battery makes EV mowers more expensive upfront capital cost. It's pretty straight forward short term thinking for them yes, but I am struggling with why me pointing this out got your beef so much.
Unlikely Mascot? (Score:2)
Have these people never maintained farmland? Cows and sheep are the preferred way to keep large tracts of land mowed. The sheep are not unlikely mascots. They are the obvious choice.
Why not goats? (Score:2)
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Neither is better, both have their purpose. Goats like weeds, sheep like grass. So it's good to rotate goats on to your pasture to eat the weeds that sheep (and cattle) don't eat because they just wanted the grass.
Re: Why not goats? (Score:3, Insightful)
Goats are assholes. They will escape. They will find a way to jump on the panels and inadvertently destroy them. Without good, proper confinement goats are the assholes of the animal world
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Goats and sheep sharing the same grazing plots goes back to biblical times. The goats would eat the weeds that the sheep would not touch. The goats provided some defense against wolves because a goat would stand its ground and at least try to fight them off while sheep would just make noise and run off, this gave the shepherds a bit more time to call in dogs and/or people with spears and arrows to kill any wild animal intent on feeding on the sheep. Goats weren't great for producing wool or milk but they
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Goats eat the plants right down to the roots and kill it - they are one of the reasons for deserts expanding in north Africa.
They will also wander about on top of the panels, eat through cables, and generally mess things about.
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Aren't goats also used to control weeds? Which are better, goats or sheep? I suppose goats can jump over the fence. Or climb on the panels. Or chew on the wires.
Goats are awesome and amusing critters, but yeah sheep do better in this case because they don't like to jump on things.
We even have commercial rent-a-goat grass trimming businesses here.
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Australia = lots of sun + lots of sheep (Score:2)
We've got more sheep than people and a backlog of solar farms waiting for approval. This would have to solve a few problems getting some of those projects off the ground.
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A 30 second google search tells me that it's already happening and it's already having positive impacts on the actual quality of the sheep themselves:
https://www.pv-magazine-austra... [pv-magazin...tralia.com]
https://www.theguardian.com/au... [theguardian.com]
This will genuinely change a lot of people's minds when it comes to opposing large solar farms in their local region. We're all about the sheep here, and if it's good for the sheep then it's good for everyone.
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What about increased sheep farts? (Score:1)
...just asking.
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Shush, don't give them ideas.
Might new in the USA... (Score:1)
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This might be news in the USA but it has been happening in the rest of the world for a while now. From a different ABC [abc.net.au].
This is not new in the USA at all, we even have rent-a-grazers who will trim your grass for you. Usually in harder to reach places like steep hills. The rent-a grazer person puts up a temporary fence, then lets the critters loose. They pig out, then when done they are rounded up to go to the next place. Those are usually goats, but sometimes sheep.
With solar arrays there is already a fence.
Anyhow, here is a link https://apnews.com/article/she... [apnews.com]
For others concerned about the plants under the panels
Missing the obvious (Score:2)
Why arenâ(TM)t we covering the roofs of buildings, parking lots, city roads, and highways with solar panels? Building can power themselves and their blocks. Of course, this would likely nuke the existing utility industry generation and transmission industry but so what?
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Fake news ... (Score:1)
We all know, if you put solar panels on top of original agriculture land: it is lost, and can not be used for anything. /me eating his strawberries which riped nicely on the field ...
Methane emmisions soar (Score:2)
Goats? (Score:2)
Far better, one would think.
I still remember the goats grazing on the ammo storage bunkers down at Fort McClellan (home of the US Army Chemical School, not to mention the WAC basic training).
Most of them were extremely wary of us humans, since the Chemical School had the habit of occasionally grabbing one of them for nerve agent (and remedy) training. They'd usually survive (I still remember the "Hoof Spread Chest Pressure" CPR exercise), but they never were very happy about it.