All Local, All The Time
Byron Kominek, owner and manager of Jack’s Solar Garden, under the solar panel canopy amidst the crops with banners featuring some of his commercial partners.
Byron Kominek, owner and manager of Jack’s Solar Garden, with Steely Dan, a symbol of the rotational grazing of cattle through the solar panels. Kominek is an advocate of rotational grazing in various settings and notes that it is not limited to cattle; sheep, goats, chickens, and even horses have been successfully grazed among solar-managed microclimates worldwide.
Jack’s Solar Garden, located at 8102 N. 95th Street in Longmont, hosted its last public tour of the year on Oct. 17. Owner and manager Byron Kominek conducted the tour with opening remarks and guidelines (“Please don’t touch the wires!”) in the parking area flanked by the “Happy Hen House” and a golden cottonwood-framed silo, moving into the five-acre garden space canopied by 3,276 solar panels of varying heights and adjustable angles, all geared to the production of 1.2 MW of solar energy and a wide variety of agricultural goods and services.
Jack’s Solar Garden is one of the first-of-its-kind agrivoltaic enterprises in the country, combining solar energy production, enough to power over 300 homes, with agricultural outputs ranging from medicinal herbs, fruits, vegetables, grains and seeds like flax, and even (unusual for this area) hazelnuts, to pastureland for livestock. It opened in 2020 and has partnered with several research institutions and businesses to flourish in its impact both locally and nationally over the course of the last six years.
The tour began with a history of the farmland purchased by Kominek’s grandfather, Jack Stingerie, in 1972. Traditional hay and alfalfa production became less viable over time and with the transfer of the land to a new generation, a new vision began to take shape: “Connecting our community to clean energy and local food.”
The road to realizing that vision included working with Boulder County to change longstanding Land Use Code limitations, figuring out how to effectively combine solar power with farming, securing financing for an innovative (and risky) business, and ultimately building the infrastructure.
Having the land and access to three-phase transmission lines along with solar incentives from Xcel Energy were essential. Overcoming over-restrictive land use regulations and NIMBY-ism posed a different kind of challenge. “Rural character is going to go away if we can’t figure out a way for people to make a living from their land,” Kominek explained.
Jumping those hurdles led to confronting three “buckets” of necessities to making the proposed project work: accessibility, allowing the free movement of machines, people, and animals through the rows of solar panels; wire management, “high and tight,” ensuring a safe installation; and avoiding the destruction of the land during construction. “It’s hard for the land to come back,” Kominek reminded tour attendees, citing examples such as pathway shortcuts and the Oregon Trail syndrome where wagon wheel ruts remain unvegetated 150 years after being ground into the earth.
Kominek explained that the key to how solar panels work to promote abundant agriculture is the creation of microclimates. The shift of the panels from eastward-facing in the morning, to flat-out at noon, to westward-facing in the afternoon ensures an optimal distribution of shade-sun-shade for the harbored plants. Kominek said that the myth of the need for “full sun” exposure in hot and dry climates like Colorado’s is being debunked by research out of the University of Arizona showing that crops use only three hours of sun in the morning before they are “panting like dogs,” waiting for cooler afternoon relief.
Another microclimate aspect Kominek described is the distribution of water, which solar panels also facilitate. Whether it’s the dumping of rainwater runoff, or snow or even hail, the beds bordering the panel edges illustrate the power of moisture in addition to the benefits of strategic shading. Even in the most drought-fraught years of 2024 and 2026 (record-breakers), 20% more grass grew inside the solar array than outside, especially along the drip edges, according to research at Colorado State University. And it showed that shade significantly inhibits CO2 emissions from soil inside the panels compared to outside.
Shade helps not only plants but also workers and livestock. Rotational grazing at Jack’s is implemented one day at a time at various times of year and will be increased going forward, Kominek said. Under the panel canopy, a metal cow sculpture called “Steely Dan” stands in for the herd in its absence. Kominek said he is “solidly in the camp of wanting livestock grazing on land instead of feedlots. If we keep the land healthy, the livestock healthy, and workers healthy, we’ll put more money in the pockets of ranchers and reduce grocery prices for all of us,” he said.
Jack’s Solar Garden public tours may be over for the year, but one last opportunity to experience the farm is coming up on Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 3 p.m. Not just for kids, “Pumpkins and Panels” includes U-Picks, a garden tour at 1 p.m., and a costume parade at 2 p.m. No other solar array in the country offers regular public access like Jack’s, including welcoming over 1,500 school children a year in addition to government officials and policymakers, who are essential to furthering the garden’s mission.
Kominek, who is also Executive Director of the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center, will be there, and eager to share much more of the Jack’s Solar Garden story including information about the Colorado State Land Board’s Renewable Plus Program, the Audubon Rockies Perennial Pollinators Initiative, and several new research results to be published in coming days.
“I like to take a little bit of credit,” Kominek said, for showing how it can be done. “If we develop solar arrays to enable and enhance rural land use, they will last a long time and make Boulder County strong.”
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