The forage experiment used observations from the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons, comparing plots beneath solar installations rated at 30 kW and 50 kW with an unshaded control. Researchers kept all experimental plots ungrazed to maintain consistent treatment conditions. They tested alfalfa, field peas, meadow fescue, orchard grass, red clover, brown midrib sorghum-Sudan grass and white clover, alongside three grass-legume mixtures containing alfalfa, red clover or white clover. Harvesting took place three times in each year, once plants were approximately 25–35 cm tall, the recommended height before grazing by lactating dairy cattle. The samples were then assessed for nutritional quality.
The 50-kW installation cast more shade and produced less forage biomass than either the smaller installation or the full-sun plot. Its forage nevertheless ranked highest for nutritional value. Material from beneath one or both installations matched or exceeded the comparison forage in crude protein and the digestibility of fibre across the digestive tract. For subsequent grazing experiments involving solar arrays, the researchers recommended measuring soil moisture and temperature directly to help establish the mechanisms behind the observed forage responses. The team has also been examining crops beneath and outside an array installed in 2020.
Earlier work examined how shade affected dairy cattle. Between June and September 2019, researchers randomly divided 24 cows between neighbouring paddocks, one shaded and the other unshaded, while daytime air temperatures ranged from 27°C to 34°C. They recorded behaviour, analysed milk and used Smaxtec boluses and CowManager ear tags to track body temperature, activity and rumination. Published in the Journal of Dairy Science in 2021, the results showed afternoon breathing rates of 66.4 breaths per minute among shaded cows, compared with 78.3 among those without shade. Internal temperatures were also lower in the shaded group from 10am until 8pm. The groups had comparable fly prevalence, milk output, milk-fat and protein percentages, and rates of water consumption. The researchers concluded that agrivoltaics offered potential to reduce farms’ carbon footprints and heat-stress risks for grazing dairy cows.
A 240-kW solar installation was added to the centre’s existing shaded pasture in 2020. It supplied electricity to a rapid-charging facility for utility vehicles. According to Heins, the panels were positioned 2.4–3 metres above ground to keep them beyond the cows’ reach, with little additional expense arising from the elevation. The panels and associated electrical infrastructure cost approximately US$90,000 (€70,000). The project was designed to support investigations into layouts that could shelter grazing livestock from summer sunshine and serve as windbreaks or snow fences during winter. With the installation operating, researchers could measure power generation and calculate investment returns.
The team’s planned work also covered solar-tracking equipment, suitable forage species, cattle reproduction and longer-term changes in milk output and composition, weight, body condition and health. Heins and his colleagues wanted to model and test ways of changing panel orientation during the day, either manually or automatically. He said the research was intended to produce recommendations for farmers, with economic findings that would encourage adoption of photovoltaic equipment. Following delays to the panel research, the team is installing another solar system at the centre. It will combine automated sun tracking with vertically mounted panels that researchers can test as cattle windbreaks.
Since 2020, the researchers have collected annual observations on the weight, body condition, health and welfare of cattle grazing in the two neighbouring experimental paddocks. Heins said the lower internal temperatures of cattle grazing beneath the panels had persisted in each year’s observations. These measurements extend the earlier work on shade and heat stress, alongside the team’s continuing investigations of forage production around the solar installations.
Heins said farmers assessing returns from a pasture-based solar installation should include both electricity generation and livestock operations in their calculations. In his account, electricity revenue covers the panels, while retaining agricultural use of the ground provides further benefits. Cows consume pasture grown beneath the equipment during summer, reducing feed costs and the need to supply stored feed. Grazing also controls vegetation around the installation, avoiding the expense of hiring someone to cut the grass, as happens at many solar sites. Heins said the combined income from livestock and solar generation increased revenue from land used for both activities.
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