Have a solar site that needs some vegetation management? Hire our fantastic landscaping crew!

Here are a few highlights:

• Traditional models of solar farm vegetation management call for mowing or weed whacking around the panels. The problem with this is:

  • It is very time-consuming.

  • It can be expensive because it is so time-consuming (plus fuel prices).

  • There is the potential for damage to the panels with rocks being kicked up from the mechanical methods of mowing.

  • Other methods include application of herbicides which of course is not eco friendly and can damage pollinator populations.

  • It can be difficult to get a mower under the panels, too, since some are quite low.

• We have about 200 sheep and they are at the solar farm, when they’re on their “rotation,” 7 days a week 24 hours a day. They are primarily Katahdin-Dorper crosses.

• We move them once every few days so they get the grass down to the appropriate height. This makes sure no area is neglected.

• Sheep are ideal for this because they’re unlike any other species. Cattle tend to graze more selectively - sheep, particularly our Icelandic sheep, will eat just about anything, including poison ivy and other weeds that would be tricky to mow. Unlike goats, they don’t jump and chew on things they shouldn’t.

• They’re a low cost lawn care crew - they don’t have workers comp and they benefit just as much from this arrangement as the solar company does!

• Solar grazing keeps agricultural land in agriculture. A big complaint that a lot of people have - and a justified one - about solar energy is that it requires a lot of space. It turns good, arable farmland into non-working farmland, which is obviously a huge disadvantage.

• The state recently invested more than a billion dollars into renewable energy projects. If agricultural land was not considered during New York’s installation process, 80% of New York’s farm land could be taken up by solar arrays. But with this method, you can truly have the best of both worlds. You get agriculture plus renewable energy. There is virtually zero argument to be had against it - it’s the perfect set-up.

Contact us for a quote on your project! We’d be happy to help.