Self-consumption on farms
Many farms and agricultural facilities have switched to solar self-consumption in recent years, as they have high energy consumption, are in rural areas where it is difficult to have a stable network, and have large industrial building roofs.
In recent years, the decrease in the cost of solar panels and their installation, as well as the increase in electricity bills, have led many rural farms to switch to self-consumption with relatively quick returns on investment.
Many of them, since farms are also nighttime energy consumers, have had to resort to installing storage batteries.
Large solar parks occupy agricultural land
Large solar parks have become increasingly common in the territory and in rural environments, transforming the surroundings and changing the way of life in rural areas.
These large parks are also land consumers as they require extensions that were previously used for agriculture, which has generated controversy and debate in rural areas since the hectares dedicated to the traditional way of life of agriculture and livestock farming have been reduced to make way for renewable energy installations.
Solar panels in the field provide shade for sheep
In response to the controversy over the reduction of hectares dedicated to agriculture to install solar panels, options have been developed to reduce the impact and better integrate solar panels into the rural environment.
“Agrovoltaics” is the term for this new way of combining agriculture and photovoltaics, seeking to continue using the land for agricultural purposes where intensive photovoltaic parks are installed.
Sheep herds are being introduced into photovoltaic parks to facilitate coexistence between the parks and agriculture, where both benefit:
On the one hand, the sheep still have the land for grazing, benefit from the shade provided by the solar panels which lowers the temperature slightly, and the park saves on clearing the grass as the sheep keep it under control.
But why might it be favorable on land dedicated to livestock?
The deployment of panels can increase animal welfare, as surprising as this may seem. According to the World Economic Forum, researchers fitted 80 sheep with data trackers. This research concluded that sheep in fields with solar panels spent 70% of their time sheltered under the panels, grazed 8% more than sheep studied in open fields, and rested 71% more!
In solar panel fields, the nitrogen content in the grass was up to 172% higher, making it more nutritious and easier to digest. This factor can be attributed to the shade provided by the panels preventing the grass from drying out, according to New Scientist.
Moreover, sheep are the perfect animal for this synergy, as they are small enough to slide between the panels, do not have enough strength or size to damage the equipment, and help prevent weeds from growing around the machinery and do not chew through the cables.
Research like this is essential because, although the energy transition depends on the expansion of solar energy, one of the recurring problems is the lack of available land.
How to keep the panels clean in photovoltaic installations?
At Cepillos Sacema, we have our Solar Panel Cleaner for tractors.
The solar cleaner is a system composed of a hydraulic arm, the brush, a water storage and pumping system, video cameras, and distance sensors to the panel, which provides efficiency in cleaning photovoltaic panels.
Depending on the area and climate, as well as the production needs of the park, cleaning is done more or less frequently to achieve sufficient energy production levels.
For more information about this or any of our products, please do not hesitate to contact us.
