Researchers make unexpected discovery about sheep raised in nontraditional environment: 'There is an enormous opportunity'
It's rare to find a scenario where everyone comes out on top, but researchers at the University of Western Ontario say they've found that elusive outcome when it comes to pairing sheep with solar panels.
The researchers examined the potential of agrivoltaics growth in Canada and published findings in the Applied Energy journal. In layman's terms, agrivoltaics means using farmlands for solar panels and agriculture at the same time.
"Canada had an early start in North America in sheep-based agrivoltaics, where sheep would be brought in to trim the grass on large-scale solar farms," noted study co-leader Joshua Pearce in a news release. "Now the U.S. is all-in."
This is a potential missed opportunity for Canada considering the pricey importation of over $250 million in mutton and lamb annually, per the researchers.
Pearce further noted that clean energy leader Texas has tripled its sheep population as "Canada has fallen behind." The researchers described agrivoltaics as an industry-wide "simple and easy solution" after examining the practice in a massive solar farm capable of powering 150,000 homes and a family farm a fraction of the size.
"The sheep like the shade, plus the solar panels increase grass yield and protect sheep from predators," said Pearce. Meanwhile, Pearce revealed farmers and shepherds reap their own set of benefits, as "sheep eliminate the need for herbicides or costly grass cutting on the solar farms." Having all these sheep on-site provides a steady revenue source for shepherds.
"Everyone wins," Pearce declared. Shepherd Rafael Lara collaborated with the researchers in the study and pointed out other benefits, including the impact on soil by the sheep and solar farms.
"The soil's productive potential is higher than that of a regular pasture in the same area," said Lara. "Partial shading of the pasture also contributes to moisture retention, improving its resilience to climatic extremes." Per the release, another set of positives of the arrangement was making virtually all of the land grazable, and the solar farm's infrastructure providing secure fencing, security and surveillance for the farms.
The study's results are in line with a number of others that have demonstrated major success stories for agrivoltaics. Whether it's for grazing sheep, winemaking, olive production, or just helping workers get some refuge from the heat, the practice is generating positive results.
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Beyond helping crops or generating passive income for farmers, the practice helps boost clean energy production. As much of the world tries to move away from dirty energy sources that heat the planet with dangerous consequences, lowering agriculture's footprint is a huge step.
Pearce and the Western team are hopeful that Canadian farmers and shepherds will take notice.
"There is an enormous opportunity to return millions of dollars currently used to import lamb back to Canadian farmers, if we simply started using the grass under solar panels," Pearce asserted.
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