Combined use of solar power and 'grazing sheep' lowers maintenance costs
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Regarding solar power generation , which is a power generation method that utilizes sunlight, which is one of the renewable energy sources , a new idea that ' grazing sheep at the location where solar panels are installed can reduce maintenance costs ' is attracting attention. ..
Sheep, ag and sun: Agrivoltaics propel significant reductions in solar maintenance costs | Utility Dive
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/sheep-ag-and-sun-agrivoltaics-propel-significant-reductions-in-solar-main/581879/
Solar power generation, which utilizes renewable energy, has been attracting attention in recent years, and the National Institute for Renewable Energy , a U.S. Department of Energy , predicts that the installation area of solar panels in the United States will double from 2030 to 2050. I am.
According to Jordan McNick of the National Institute for Renewable Energy, although farmers with large land suitable for installing solar panels want to install solar panels and earn profits from solar power generation, solar panels It is said that it has received a lot of opposition to the deterioration of the landscape. The issue of how to install solar panels, which is expected to continue to increase in the future, seems to affect the productivity of farmland.
In the midst of this trend, the idea of grazing sheep at the location where solar panels have been installed has been attracting attention. According to the American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA), which recommends a combination of solar panels and grazing sheep, the cost of managing the plants around the solar panels can be reduced by 30% when using sheep. In addition, the management of plants using sheep is beneficial for pollinators such as bees, and it will increase the profits of agriculture and beekeeping that require pollinators such as apples in the vicinity.
In a solar power order from
However, according to Tampa Electric Power, there seems to be a problem of 'only for sheep', and there is a problem that the intake pipe is clogged with sheep's hair, and coyote, fox, raccoon etc. attack the sheep. The company has invested thousands of dollars (hundreds of thousands of yen) as a countermeasure for this kind of problem, but it is 'cheap considering the management area'.
“Costs haven't been reduced as much,” said Enel Green Power, a renewable energy specialist that grazes sheep at a solar power plant in Minnesota. However, according to the company, there is a risk of fire and equipment damage in managing plants with lawn mowers, so replacing it with sheep grazing is an advantage. That. The company is also investigating agriculture that relies on nearby pollinators, such as soybeans and apples, to prove that 'grazing sheep raises yields for agriculture that requires pollinators.' He explains that the results are promising.
In the case of Nexamp, which works on a distributed photovoltaics business, we also found that sheep grazing is particularly effective on rough terrain such as rock ledges. In the case of Nexamp, grazing sheep on flat land usually has a cost reduction effect of about 19% compared to conventional methods, but for rock shelves etc., the cost reduction effect will increase to 38%.
As described above, grazing sheep in the place where solar panels are installed has many advantages, but it is said that the 'shortage of shepherds' is becoming serious. It seems that there is a problem that the number of people who want to become shepherds is small in response to the expanding demand.
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