Large-Scale US Solar Farms Brings 'Solar Grazing' Work for Sheep (go.com) 28
"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)
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Are these the sheep of which androids dream ?
I guess so.
While I can commend these people for choosing sheep to control the grass growing among the solar panels I'd rather we'd not put solar panels over land that is suited for growing crops.
I can recall reading a handful of articles of people celebrating the conversion of tobacco fields into fields of solar panels. The claim was that the farmers were producing "green" energy than something that was poisoning the public. Well, they could have instead planted cotton, strawberries, corn, wheat, lettuce,
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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 jo
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.
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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.
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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. Solar power is still more expensive than wind power, and the only reason I see why anyone would choose installing solar PV than windmills is because there's federal and/or state subsidies for solar power.
Is solar a good match for grazing land? Perhaps but I have my doubts. You know what is also a good match for energy production on grazing land? Windmills.
Can there be solar panels that are beneficial to the land for grazing or some such? I guess but
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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:3)
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)/$, and battery energy density/$.
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:2)
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
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)
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?