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A goat rests under the shade of a solar panel at Parry Sound’s solar farm at 57 57 MacFarlane Street.
The solar farm at 57 MacFarlane St.in Parry Sound after a group of sheep and goats went to the site to eat unwanted vegetation.
The solar farm at 57 MacFarlane St. in Parry Sound before a group of sheep and goats went to the site to eat unwanted vegetation.
Lakeland Solutions brought in 75 sheep and goats to clear overgrown vegetation shading solar panels at Parry Sound’s solar farm. Read how the pilot project worked.
A goat rests under the shade of a solar panel at Parry Sound’s solar farm at 57 57 MacFarlane Street.
In just nine days, a hard-working team of sheep and goats resolved an energy production problem at Parry Sound’s solar farm.
Lakeland — the company in charge of the 500-kilowatt solar farm at 57 MacFarlane St. — noticed that growing vegetation was shading portions of solar infrastructure, reducing energy production at the facility.
That’s why the energy provider, along with the Town of Parry Sound, sent roughly 75 sheep and goats to the site on July 20.
This group of vegetarian mammals had only one goal — to eat grass, brush, and invasive vegetation.
Olivia Cordner, the Lakeland Solutions intern who co-ordinated the pilot program, defines the project as “a success.”
“The site looks very different from what we had before. Vegetation was very dense, and you couldn’t even see the bottoms of the panels … The goats and sheep came in, and they have been getting through most of it,” Cordner told the North Star.
The solar farm at 57 MacFarlane St. in Parry Sound before a group of sheep and goats went to the site to eat unwanted vegetation.
The solar farm at 57 MacFarlane St.in Parry Sound after a group of sheep and goats went to the site to eat unwanted vegetation.
Florentine Maathuis, owner of The Big Crunch Grazing, provided the livestock for the project. She noted that goats and sheep have complementary diet preferences — deploying both species allows them to clear a wider variety of unwanted vegetation.
Cordner said the pilot program is just the first step to improve the site. Future measures include replacing current vegetation with low-lying grass to prevent shading.
While final costs are still being calculated, Cordner said using livestock will be cheaper and more practical in the long run.
“The terrain is uneven and rocky … It would be very time-consuming and costly if we hire crews every year,” said Cordner.
Workers have previously tried to cut vegetation around the site’s fences, and they reported getting ticks on them “immediately,” Cordner noted.
“There are concerns with sending workers in here … If (sheep and goats) can’t solve the issue, there’s no animal that will solve it,” she said.
Although sheep and goats left the site on July 29, Cordner says she expects to implement more sustainable projects in other Lakeland facilities across the Parry Sound-Muskoka District.
For more information about Lakeland and other projects, visit their website.
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Julian Orlando Chaves is a reporter covering Parry Sound.
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