Solar Farms Are Booming In The US And Putting Thousands Of Hungry Sheep To Work
BUCKHOLTS, Texas — In rural Texas, beneath hundreds of rows of solar panels, a flock of stocky sheep roams pastures, casually bumping into each other as they continue to focus on a single task: chewing grass.
The thriving solar energy industry has found an unlikely mascot in sheep, as large-scale solar farms spring up across the US and the plains of Texas. SB Energy operates in Milam County, outside Austin, which houses the fifth largest solar project in the country, capable of generating 900 megawatts of power over 4,000 acres (1,618 hectares).
How do they deal with all that grass? With the help of about 3,000 sheep, which are better suited than lawnmowers to fit between small crevices and chew away rain or shine.
The proliferation of sheep on solar farms is part of a broader trend – solar grazing – that has exploded along with the solar industry. Agrivoltaics, a method of using land for both solar energy production and agriculture, is on the rise with more than 60 solar farm projects in the U.S., according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The American Solar Grazing Association notes that 27 states engage in this practice.
“The industry has tended to rely on lawnmowers, which contradicts the purpose of renewables,” said James Hawkins, asset manager of SB Energy.
Using the animals on solar fields also provides some help for the sheep and wool market, which has struggled in recent years. Sheep and lamb inventories in Texas fell to 655,000 in January 2024, a 4% decline from the previous year, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Because solar fields use sunny, flat land that is often ideal for livestock grazing, the power plants are partnering with farmers rather than competing against them.
Sheepherder JR Howard accidentally found himself in the middle of Texas’s nascent clean energy transition. In 2021, he and his family began contracting with solar farms – locations with hundreds of thousands of solar panels – to use his sheep to eat the grass.
What started as a small business has morphed into a large-scale enterprise with more than 8,000 sheep and 26 employees. “The growth alone has been pretty crazy for us,” said Howard, who has named his company Texas Solar Sheep. “It was great for me and my family.”
Some agriculture experts say Howard’s success reflects how solar farms have become a boon for some farmers. Reid Redden, a sheep farmer and solar vegetation manager in San Angelo, Texas, mentioned that a successful sheep operation requires farmland that has become increasingly scarce. “Solar grazing is probably the biggest opportunity the United States sheep industry has had in several generations,” Redden says.
Response to solar farms has been overwhelmingly positive in rural communities near solar farms in South Texas, where Redden raises sheep for use at these sites.
“I think it softens the blow of the big shock and awe of having a major solar farm coming in,” Redden noted.
Agrivoltaic energy itself is not new. Solar parks are land-intensive and require a lot of space that can also be used for food production. Agrivoltaic energy allows both to coexist, whether it’s growing food or tending livestock.
Much is still unknown about the full effects of solar grazing. Nuria Gomez-Casanovas, an assistant professor of regenerative systems ecology at Texas A&M University, indicated that not enough studies have been done to know the long-term environmental impacts, such as how viable the soil will be for future agriculture. However, she suspects that solar grazing could improve sheep productivity because the panels provide shade and might be more cost-effective than mowing.
“We really have more questions than answers,” Gomez-Casanovas conveyed. “There are studies showing that land productivity is not higher than just solar energy or agriculture alone, so it is context dependent.”
As one of Texas’ largest solar sheep operators, Howard has more customers than he can handle. He expects to add about 20 additional employees by the end of this year, which would nearly double his current workforce. As for the sheep, he already has enough.
