Jason Bradley spent 20 years of his career as a ranch manager on a 50,000-acre grazing operation in west-central Alberta. So he understands why people react with skepticism to the idea of ​​raising a herd of cattle on a working solar farm.

“The first thing people think is, ‘You can’t put livestock on (a solar farm). They’ll just rub on the panels and destroy them,'” Bradley said.

But as CEO of Calgary-based Sun Cycle Farms, Bradley believes the skeptics have already been proven wrong. This fall, Sun Cycle conducted a pilot project to graze livestock on a grid-connected solar farm in southern Alberta – which Bradley says proves that livestock production and renewable energy can successfully coexist .

“It wasn’t just about proving it to ourselves: I knew it could be done in an existing solar installation,” Bradley said.

“But we had to prove to the asset owners, to the insurance company, and even to the investors who are looking at this, and show that this is part of the solution.”

Sun Cycle Farms is an agrivoltaic company, part of a growing field that aims to combine solar energy production with agricultural activities. Across North America, solar farm owners are increasingly deploying sheep and even pigs on their sites to control weeds and reduce the need for mowing around the panels.

Researchers around the world are also studying what types of crops can be grown in and around solar panels.

Contrary to what one might expect, many crops perform better when shaded by a massive solar panel than under direct sunlight, said Joshua Pearce, a solar energy expert at the University Western.

“Most crops we grow outdoors normally get a little too much sun,” Pearce said.

“Under the solar panel, or next to it, you almost have a protected micro-environment. There is less wind, you don’t have to worry about hail, it even helps preserve a little more water in the soil. “.

Land use issues were less pressing when solar power was in its infancy, about 20 years ago, because of the small size of the fledgling industry.

But the rapid deployment of renewable energy in recent years means that the physical footprint of solar power can no longer be ignored. According to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, there are 206 large electricity-producing solar projects across the country, some of which take up thousands of acres of land.

Due to the industry’s dramatic growth, some rural residents have become frustrated with how quickly the landscapes around them have changed, as well as the activity taking place there.

“If you’re in a rural community that prides itself on farming and producing from the land, and suddenly you have major donors outside of your community buying up huge tracts of land and turning them into parks solar, you can get some pretty results. agitated and worried about it,” Pearce said.

In Alberta, which has seen the most dramatic solar energy growth in all of Canada in recent years, the provincial government recently introduced new regulations prohibiting the construction of renewable energy facilities on prime agricultural land unless developers can prove that their projects can coexist. with livestock and crops.

“Renewable energy is a double-edged sword because we need to produce energy in our province, but we also need to maintain the integrity of good agricultural land,” said Jeff Shaw, the city’s chief administrative officer. of Cardston, which is currently partnering with Sun Cycle Farms on an agrivoltaic demonstration project located on the edge of the southern Alberta community.

“We (the city) would love to be involved in a solution to this problem.”

Flexible thinking

Success in the agrivoltaics sector often requires flexible thinking. Goats, for example, have been tested on solar farms, but have not had much success due to their tendency to chew the wires.

In its livestock demonstration project, Sun Cycle used electric fences to train livestock to stay away from solar panels. The company is also investigating the use of solar-powered collars – which would give a little “ping” to cows to deter them if they get too close – as well as the use of robot tractors to safely remove weeds and cut hay around the site. without damaging the panels.

Although more research is needed before the coexistence of cows and solar panels becomes commonplace, Pearce said these types of projects are essential to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the renewable energy sector and the continued productivity of the sector agricultural.

“With agrivoltaics, everyone wins: the landowner, the farmers, the solar developers, the community, the power grid. It’s just a good idea,” he said, adding that it t was only a matter of time before cattle grazed among renewable energy installations. becomes commonplace.

“And then we’ll have solar burgers. That’ll be pretty cool.”

“This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 25, 2024.