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Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack park.
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Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack park.
Subscribe to our print magazine
Support our journalism
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Adirondack Explorer
The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Silver panels reach towards the sky over a stretch of green and white clover on Indian Ridge farm’s nine-acre solar array. But beneath the solar panels is a more unconventional sight: a herd of alpacas enjoying an afternoon meal.
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Jennifer St. Pierre and Bert Barber acquired their first alpaca around six years ago. This was long before the solar array was installed on their property. Now, their herd is up to 38. So when Cipriani Energy Group offered the couple an extra $250 per acre to maintain the field around the array, they realized their alpacas could help them earn the extra cash.
“It’ll pay for itself,” St. Pierre, who now owns the farm her parents bought when she was 16, said.
She and Barber make around $14,500 a year for hosting the solar array on their land. St. Pierre says the extra income from the solar farm will allow her and her husband to pay off the mortgage in the next four years.
St. Pierre and Barber aren’t the only farmers in the Adirondacks to use grazing animals around solar arrays. Solar grazing is a form of agrivoltaics, an umbrella term for any agriculture on renewable energy installations. As land becomes more scarce and the need for renewable energy grows, agrivoltaics are emerging nationwide as a potential solution.
Sheep are typically the animal of choice for solar grazing. Their small stature allows them to reach tight spots beneath the panels. But, their insatiable appetite for grass makes them model employees. Although St. Pierre and Barber rent several dozen sheep to assist with grazing, they primarily rely on the alpacas to manage the greenery.
If the surrounding grass grows too tall, it can block sunlight from the panels and reduce energy output. This makes maintenance crucial for a successful solar farm. Large, human-operated lawn mowers are difficult to maneuver around panels and have the potential to cause damage. Livestock makes for cheaper and more efficient labor. They also remain a source of meat, dairy and other products farms can profit from.
St. Pierre has long been weaving alpaca hair, or fiber, into items she sells at farmers markets and craft fairs. Now, she makes an additional profit off the alpacas while the solar panels provide shade for the animals. This increases the quality of their fiber and makes it better for weaving.
St. Pierre says the only negative of the solar farm has been the comments people leave on her Facebook account.
“People talk about how once the solar panels go in, they take over agriculture,” she said. “That’s not true.”
Opponents of solar energy in the Adirondacks argue the panels take away from the natural beauty of the park, block wildlife corridors and occupy land that could be used for farming.
Ground-mounted solar is projected to require about 5.7 million acres of land by 2035. It can be as much as 10 million acres by 2050. Agricultural land is a popular choice for solar installations and has so far been the site of more than 70 percent of large-scale solar development in rural areas.
But St. Pierre and Barber do not view the land use as a loss. Barber says that the field would hardly even grow trees, and the couple primarily used the parcel for wood storage, cow pasture and recycling. Decades prior, it served as the town dump. St. Pierre and Barber say they have greatly benefited from hosting the solar array on land that would otherwise be unprofitable.
“The way most people feel around here about solar farms is that they hate to see good farmland go to waste to put a solar farm in, but this was junk land,” said Barber. “You’ve got hundreds of acres of farmland that farmers don’t use anymore, so why not make some use out of it?”
Jaysa is a reporting intern at the Explorer and a student at Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. She is passionate about telling stories centering around climate and the environment. In… More by Jaysa Dold
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Great story, thanks!
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Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack Park.
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