Advocating for Agrivoltaics - Jess Gray

There is a growing resentment towards solar energy within the farming community as more and more solar farms are built on farmland. Small farmers see the never-ending push for green energy as a threat to their livelihood, and this fear is a valid one, since it is all but impossible for them to compete with giant energy companies, but what if they joined forces instead of competing? As crazy as that may sound, this is precisely what Jess Gray with Gray’s Lambscaping is advocating for in the form of a practice called agrivoltaics.

Agrivoltaics is essentially combining solar voltaic energy production (solar farms) with agricultural practices on the same land. This could mean planting crops among the solar panels, having sheep graze the grass that grows around and below the panels that would otherwise need to be mowed mechanically, and even planting flowers that encourage the propagation of native pollinators.

Jess’s journey learning about agrivoltaics started when her husband, Marcus, was working for bee and butterfly organizations, helping to preserve and increase their populations. As more and more solar farms were built near them, they wondered if they could plant pollinator plants on those solar farms. Then their thinking became diversified, and they wondered if it would be possible to run sheep on those solar farms.

After moving to their farm and getting a small flock of sheep to continue a family tradition, they just happened to come across an 800-acre solar farm about four miles away from their house. This solar farm was ripe with lush grass, and Jess couldn’t help but feel like her sheep would love to graze on it. With that in mind, she called the outreach office for that solar farm, who got back to her saying that she should contact the American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA). Once she did that, her fate as a solar grazier was sealed.

Since their first foray into solar grazing, Gray’s Lambscaping has gone from running around 34 head of sheep to about 800, and Jess is now a sitting member on the board of the ASGA. Through her work with Gray's Lambscaping and the ASGA, Jess helps educate other graziers and sheep owners about the potential of agrivoltaics. She has seen the potential firsthand and wants to help others experience the same success. If she stuck to traditional farming, she would have been limited to her 30-acre farm, but with the practice of agrivoltaics, she grazes over 2000 acres per year. On top of allowing her to feed her goats on land that isn’t her own, the grazing is an essential service for these solar farms and saves them from having to hire mechanical mowers that put off pollution.

Marcus and Jess at

The practice of agrivoltaics might still be in its infancy, but the future is bright and full of innovation. Jess says that there are collaborative efforts between the companies building solar farm sites and solar graziers. This collaboration has engineers communicating with farmers about how they can build the solar farms in ways that optimize them for grazing.

They are discussing specific changes they can implement to make solar grazing more accessible, like building the solar panels without exposed wires or building panels with plenty of clearance below them to allow grass to grow and sheep to graze happily.

Burritos made with Lamb

While the idea of agrivoltaics is a brilliant one, because it is still so new, there are some growing pains. One of these pains is the public's lack of education on how solar energy is produced. Jess explained how Gray’s Lambscaping sells their harvested sheep at a local shop where people are often excited to see that lamb is offered, but when they find out that the sheep were raised on a solar farm, they suddenly lose their interest because they believe that raising the animals near solar panels somehow infuses them with radiation.

The ASGA, who try to help the public understand the utility of solar grazing, is also working to help people understand that solar farms are not terrible for them and eating sheep who work there will not impact their health.  

In a time when it is increasingly difficult to make a living from agriculture, agrivoltaics might be the perfect solution. It puts money in the pockets of graziers and contributes to positive public perception for solar companies. Jess is at the pioneering front of this symbiotic relationship and is working tirelessly to help farmers across the nation, as well as people in the solar energy sector, learn about this opportunity. With her help and the help of the ASGA, when farmers see a solar farm built on viable farmland in the future, maybe they will see an opportunity to collaborate instead of a reason to hate.

Find her @ https://grayslambscaping.com/

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