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Ledgeview
Location: Fond du Lac, WI
Size: 6.18 MWdc
Ledgeview, one of OneEnergy’s sheep grazing projects located in Fond du Lac County WI, serves Alliant Energy customers.
Before the project, the land was used to grow corn and alfalfa. The project is dual use as the area beneath and around the panels includes a low-growing grazing/perennial grass species mix, and now the 6.18MWdc solar site is grazed by over 100 Texel sheep.
“One of the biggest concerns people have with solar is losing farmland, and people often envision utility-scale solar projects being very lifeless and industrial. Solar grazing is a great way to maintain the agricultural use of the land. Rotational sheep grazing with perennial pasture vegetation improves soil health, the sheep benefit from the shade of the panels, and community members can continue having an active role in caring for the land after the solar facility is built,” said Sarah Glover, Land Stewardship & Community Engagement Manager for OneEnergy Renewables.
OneEnergy developed a relationship with Olivia and Ted Halbur, the project landowners. Olivia is always hard at work during lambing season, and we are grateful that she offered a tour of her lambing barn last spring. Olivia has been giving tours of the lambing barn to local students for years, and she plays an active role in educating children in her community about her work on the farm through tours and by leading a 4-H group (Head, Heart, Hands and Health a youth development organization) focusing on farming. 4-H is a mentorship program run by the USDA. From the 4-H site: “In 4-H programs, kids and teens complete hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and civic engagement in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles.” Now that the Halburs are hosting Ledgeview Solar on their farmland, Olivia has incorporated education about agrivoltaics and the benefits of grazing sheep beneath solar panels in her tours.
The Halburs worked with the Sand County Foundation to develop a plan to install permanent fencing to create a unique system of 1-acre paddocks across the whole site with a total of 27 paddocks for rotational grazing within the solar array. They also extended a water line to the array for easier access, instead of hauling water from the farm to the solar project to provide water for the sheep.
The solar project is located just downhill of the pasture where the Halburs sheep have been grazing, providing an opportunity to expand the flock and OneEnergy pays the farmer to graze their sheep on the land. As the sheep graze throughout the day, solar panels generate energy simultaneously. The panels provide ample shade during hot summer days, helping to reduce heat stress, keep the sheep more dispersed, and decrease their water needs, “Sheep are moving fertilizers, along with being a sustainable source of pasture-raised meat”, said Glover. Dual-use agrivoltaics gives others a reason to grow their own flocks and vegetation managers.
The solar industry and the sheep industry can grow together through dual-use solar projects as sheep farmers have a new incentive for expanding their flocks to graze within solar arrays.
OneEnergy is excited to partner with families like the Halburs to demonstrate how we can continue using farmland for agricultural purposes while financially supporting farmers and generating renewable solar energy.