What if you combine solar power and sheep grazing?

In the field of photovoltaic power generation, which is a power generation method using solar power, one of the new and renewable energies, the idea of reducing maintenance costs by grazing sheep at the place where solar panels are installed is drawing attention.

Solar power has been attracting attention recently. The National Renewable Energy Research Institute under the US Department of Energy predicts that the solar panel installation area in the United States will double by 2030-2050. According to the research institute, farmhouses with large land suitable for solar panel installation try to obtain profits from solar power generation by installing solar panels, but there is a lot of opposition due to the poor landscape due to the solar panel. The question of how to install solar panels, which is expected to continue to increase in the future, could influence farmland productivity.

In this trend, the idea of grazing sheep in the place where solar panels are installed attracts attention. According to the American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA), which recommends a combination of solar panels and sheep grazing, grazing sheep reduces the cost of managing plants around solar panels by 30%. In addition, plant management using sheep can help pollen vectors such as bees, which can increase profits such as agriculture and beekeeping that require pollination such as apples in the vicinity.

Florida-based tampaelectric bids for an order for solar power, with ASGA paying maintenance costs 75 percent less than the existing one. The company has adopted ASGA and has actually been grazing in the solar panel installation area since 2019. Sheep grazing is actually cheaper than the existing plant management, and sheep grazing use areas have been added sequentially, and now sheep grazing is carried out at 8 out of 12 solar power plants owned.

However, according to the company, there is also a problem of quantity alone. There are also problems in which the intake vents can be blocked by the wool, or coyotes, foxes, and raccoons can attack the sheep. It has invested thousands of dollars as a countermeasure for this, but of course, it is said to be cheap considering the management area.

Enel Green Power, a renewable energy company that is doing sheep grazing at a solar power plant in Minnesota, says the cost is not going down that much. However, according to the company, plant management by lawn mowers has a risk of fire or equipment damage, so it has the advantage of reducing this risk by replacing sheep with grazing. It also explains that farming that relies on pollinators such as nearby soybeans and apples was investigated, and sheep grazing was able to yield promising results that increased agricultural yields requiring pollinators.

In the case of Nexamp, a decentralized solar power generation business, sheep grazing can be effective in undulating terrain such as rocks. Sheep grazing on flat land has a cost saving effect of about 19% compared to the conventional method, but it is said that the cost reduction effect increases to 38% on rocky terrain. Of course, grazing sheep at the solar panel installation site is acknowledged to have a significant advantage, but the lack of shepherds is also a problem. Related information can be found here .