Minnesota projects see promising early results from blending solar, agricultural production

During the growing season, some 2,200 sheep and lambs “mow” the native prairie grasses under and around 1.7 million silicon panels at Xcel Energy’s Sherco solar installation near Becker.

As Minnesota’s largest panel farm, the 4,700-acre expanse is also its highest-profile example of agrivoltaics, where solar power production and crops or pasture share the same plots. It’s far from the only one. Sheep graze and honeybees buzz over pollinator-friendly ground cover at other Minnesota solar farms, and more ambitious agrivoltaics initiatives are taking root at a community solar garden near Big Lake, a state-funded Read Entire Article