Booming photo voltaic farms within the U.S. put hundreds of hungry sheep to work

Sheep stroll close to photo voltaic panels on a photo voltaic farm owned by SB Vitality
| Photograph Credit score: AP

On rural Texas farmland, beneath tons of of rows of photo voltaic panels, a troop of stocky sheep rummage by pasture, casually bumping into each other as they continue to be dedicated to a single activity: chewing grass.

The booming photo voltaic trade has discovered an unlikely mascot in sheep as large-scale photo voltaic farms crop up throughout the U.S. and within the plain fields of Texas. In Milam County, outdoors Austin, SB Vitality operates the fifth-largest photo voltaic mission within the nation, able to producing 900 megawatts of energy throughout 4,000 acres (1,618 hectares).

How do they handle all that grass? With the assistance of about 3,000 sheep, that are higher suited than lawnmowers to suit between small crevices and chew away rain or shine.

The proliferation of sheep on photo voltaic farms is a part of a broader development — photo voltaic grazing — that has exploded alongside the photo voltaic trade.

Agrivoltaics technique

Agrivoltaics, a way utilizing land for each photo voltaic power manufacturing and agriculture, is on the rise with greater than 60 photo voltaic grazing tasks within the U.S., in keeping with the Nationwide Renewable Vitality Laboratory. The American Photo voltaic Grazing Affiliation says 27 States interact within the apply.

“The trade tends to depend on gas-powered mowers, which form of contradicts the aim of renewables,” SB Vitality asset supervisor James Hawkins stated.

Placing the animals to work on photo voltaic fields additionally helps the sheep and wool market, which has struggled lately. The stock of sheep and lamb in Texas fell to six,55,000 in January 2024, a 4% drop from the earlier 12 months, in keeping with the newest figures from the U.S. Division of Agriculture.

As a result of photo voltaic fields use sunny, flat land that’s typically ultimate for livestock grazing, the ability crops have been utilized in coordination with farmers slightly than in opposition to them.

Sheepherder JR Howard by chance discovered himself in the course of Texas’ burgeoning clear power transition. In 2021, he and his household started contracting with photo voltaic farms — websites with tons of of hundreds of photo voltaic modules — to make use of his sheep to eat the grass. What was as soon as a small enterprise has become a full-scale operation with greater than 8,000 sheep and 26 workers. “Simply the expansion has been form of loopy for us,” stated Mr. Howard, who named his firm Texas Photo voltaic Sheep.

Constructive response

Some agriculture specialists say Mr. Howard’s success displays how photo voltaic farms have change into a boon for some ranchers.

Reid Redden, a sheep farmer and photo voltaic vegetation supervisor in San Angelo, stated a profitable sheep enterprise requires agricultural land that has change into more and more scarce. “Photo voltaic grazing might be the largest alternative that the sheep trade had within the U.S. in a number of generations,” he stated. The response to photo voltaic grazing has been overwhelmingly constructive in rural communities close to South Texas photo voltaic farms the place Redden raises sheep for websites to make use of, Mr. Redden stated.

“I feel it softens the blow of the large shock and awe of a giant photo voltaic farm coming in,” he added.

Agrivoltaics itself just isn’t new. Photo voltaic farms are land-intensive and require numerous house that may very well be used for meals manufacturing. Agrivoltaics compensates by permitting the 2 to coexist, whether or not rising meals or caring for livestock.

There’s a lot nonetheless unknown in regards to the full results of photo voltaic grazing, stated Nuria Gomez-Casanovas, an assistant professor in regenerative system ecology at Texas A&M College.

Not sufficient research have been executed to know the long-term environmental impacts, corresponding to how viable the soil can be for future agriculture, though Ms. Gomez-Casanovas suspects photo voltaic grazing could enhance sheep productiveness as a result of the panels present shade and could be extra cost-efficient than mowing.

“We actually have extra questions than solutions,” she stated. “There are research that present that the land productiveness just isn’t increased versus photo voltaic alone or agriculture alone, so it’s context-dependent.”