Neglected pastures thrive under solar panels
Solar panels could increase productivity on pastures that are not irrigated and even water-stressed, a new study finds. The new study published in PLOS One by researchers at Oregon State College finds that grasses and plants flourish in the shade underneath solar panels because of a significant change in moisture. The results bolster the argument for agrovoltaics, the concept of using the same area of land for solar arrays and farming. The idea is to grow food and produce clean energy at the same time.
Oh! I actually heard about this!! At the Sheep & Wool Festival there was a woman shearing a sheep, so we took Farmkid over to watch, and the woman started telling us that this was a new breed of sheep they were trying to get to catch on in the region, and they were pretty decent for wool but the big thing that they were useful for was grazing under solar installations, because they were small but not super into jumping. Some sheep are too large to fit under the panels, and some are too vertically-inclined and like to climb on them, which can damage them, so these particular sheep were in the sweet spot of being smallish but not great jumpers.
Apparently that’s where the money is. Because otherwise you have to mow the grass under the panels, and ride-on lawn mowers don’t fit. (If you don’t keep the foliage down, it can take over the field and shade your solar panels.)
Shepherds can make most of their profit by hiring their flock out to keep a solar installation grazed down, and it’s extra-great because solar installations tend to have good forage under them.
(what does it say about the state of america’s foodways that you otherwise often can’t make money on raising livestock except in horrifying confinement operations, however? the woman was absolutely clear that the sheep didn’t break even on wool or meat, but if you could get solar gigs you were golden. Isn’t that sad?)
