Farmers debunked some comical (and common) concerns electricians had about pairing sheep with a solar plant. Known as agrivoltaics, this technique allows farm land to be used twofold. Farmers can raise animals and crops, and they can lend their land to be a part of renewable energy collection.
Electricians are working with farmers to make this a reality. But some farmers in Glenrowan West, Victoria, Australia, have heard some funny questions in the process. Cosmos Magazine said some electricians wondered who would "put the sheep to bed at night."
"We just rolled around laughing. The other one was 'if you put the sheep in there and we need to work, who's going to take the sheep out'? And we said, 'no, the sheep won't come near you,'" Gayle Lee, a farmer, said to Cosmos.
While the process might seem silly at first, it's more than a generally efficient land management strategy. A 2024 study found that agrivoltaics can lower a soil's evapotranspiration rate. This means farmers use less water and pay less to manage their crops.
The study also advocated for renewable energy systems to be a part of agrivoltaics in places like Sub-Saharan Africa. Agrivoltaics would provide the region with more stable electricity and more stable food sources.
As for Australia, some farmers who aren't on an agrivoltaics journey are rightfully worried about the status of their land.
They may find it comforting to know that scientists have been formally studying agrivoltaics for decades. In 1981, two German scientists investigated how to grow potatoes under solar panels. That one experiment is making agrivoltaics possible in many places (including Australia).
The cooling that plants provide also benefits the solar panels. Cosmos noted that solar panels work best at 25°C (77°F). And, of course, the solar panels can provide shade for the sheep, so everyone wins.
As Lee gets more involved with agrivoltaics on her land, she's trying out a worm juice spray as fertilizer. What she used before can corrode solar panels. Lee hopes to see the benefits of this new method in four years.
It can be hard to have patience with learning and using these new(er) methods. Hopefully, electricians and farmers alike will see that these strategies have a lot of potential. If agrivoltaics can save money and help create a healthier, less polluted world, what do we have to lose?
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