Posted on 05/09/2023 10:45:35 AM PDT by DallasBiff
STORY: This solar farm 'mows' the lawn with some wooly workers
The farm says they got tired of wasting their own energy keeping grass trim
And that they turned to sheep as a greener and more powerful method
[Rexhep Rrudhani, Shepherd]
“They realised that mowing the lawn was very hard and they asked me whether I can bring my sheep. I said yes and I brought my sheep here. The plant’s manager gave me the water for the sheep because they have a well that is 90 meters deep. This is necessary during summer. When I do sheep shearing, I always do it here because they also provide me with free electricity. I want to thank them for everything because they are helping me a lot.”
More than 12,000 solar panels are installed at the farm
And more than 100 sheep and some goats keep the grass tidy twice a week
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
It’s sad and many time it goes to undeserving and lazy people that don’t want to ‘partner’ in constructing.
Few of the neighborhoods stay nice.
Things that you busted your a** and did without while earning, will be much, much more appreciated.
How many did you have, though? Or did you fall asleep every time you tried to find out?
I don't know about having solar in Kosovo (where the article is about). But here in Alabama I've never cleaned mine and I've had some of them for 2 years. Part of that is the ones I've had for 2 years are positioned at a steep pitch (thus, sediment doesn't sit on them long before even a mild rain makes rushing water clean them). And part of it is also about our winters giving us a few freezes every year where I wake up with a thin layer of ice on them. That diminishes their production for a few hours on those few mornings, but the ice melting and sliding off of them cleans them better than I can with a squeegee.
Admittedly, the panels I installed in August last year are installed at a moderate angle and, therefore, might require me rinsing them off a few times when pollen collects on them as we're experiencing our spring. So far I haven't had to do that, but I'm sure it's coming.
hmm, Ive always understood that sheep tend to pull grass up by the roots, not chew it off the top
Goats also like to climb on things. They destroyed a neighbors roof.
Hoofs are hard on shingles, they will chew on shingles also.
Split level house gave them access to the roof.
The solar farms are fenced. Good for keeping the predators away. Why shouldn’t they use sheep. Pretty smart I’d say.
My HOA is constantly getting on to the solar homeowners to clean their panels.....especially during pollen season.
Given the one across the street is a flaming lib tree hugger its become quite a source of amusement for me.
Still do....
One Border Collie, one Red Heeler, and a few dairy goats as flock guards. Goats go to the danger. Sheep run from it. The dairy goats produce about 2 gallons of milk per day.
But what does a HOA have to do with washing solar panels. Are they saying the panels are an eyesore when they're dirty? Or is the homeowner on some kind of agreement with the HOA to allow him to have solar panels but only if he contributes to the power on the grid?
For what it's worth, even when my panels are covered in pollen temporarily it doesn't matter because it's spring weather. Literally the only power I pulled from the grid in my entire April billing period was the 110W constant pull I have my inverters do to keep my power company from automatically shutting me off (thinking I'd moved out and flipped my power main off if I go for a while without pulling power). So even during the brief moments I have a layer of pollen on my panels I still get more power from them than I need for what little I have to run the A/C or heat during pollen season. That's why my April bill was less than $31 -- even though I don't sell power to the grid to dry to make my bill lower.
The same for rainy weather (which cleans off the pollen). Yes on those days I get less solar, but I don't need much power anyway because the temps are almost always mild. So if I do have to pull from the grid on those days, it's not much. The sunny days tend to be the days I most need to win the battle over my power usage because those tend to be either really hot (and thus I have to run the A/C a lot) or really cold (and thus I have to run the heater a lot on those winter nights). But it's almost always easy to win those major battles because the really hot days and really cold days are almost always sunny days. Not always, but almost always. Stuff like this and optimizations I studied and tweaked on my own are why 80% of the power we need throughout the year is supplied by our solar. No natural gas bill because it's now an all-electric house. And almost no gasoline bought at the pump because most of our driving is in the EV (which we charge at home unless we take it on a trip).
But you must do the math and research on your area's weather patterns and your own daily energy consumption habits to see if it's right for you. Bonus points if after you do the install if you're a data geek and export telemetry from your solar inverters into a database and see what options in your inverters to tweak for your specific uses. That's one thing I hate about how the Dims push "green" energy at the utility level. Even for other people in my area who, therefore, are in a good weather climate like me for solar -- it's not a one-size-fits-all solution like the Dims make it out to be.
“ Goats also like to climb on things. They destroyed a neighbors roof”
I have little doubt that mine are standing on top of one of the tractors or a vehicle that is in the field right now. All it takes is one goat and a few seconds to destroy a paint job.
State Parks here use goats to keep weeds down. They can eat poison ivy with no problems.
It’s in the covenants and restrictions about homes being unsightly.......as far as the panels themselves. I have too many holes in my roof from vents and such as is.
As far as HOAs go, the only problem I have with mine is they don’t come down hard enough on violators......especially the dreaded parasite that is the renter.
Goats would be better.
The military has been using goats for decades to keep weeds down in munitions dumps. These environmentalists are so dumb they think they are smart.
The sheep will eat the grass into the dirt, before long they won’t have to worry about mowing.
And a lot of mercury after the first hail storm.
The Downton Abby estate used sheep also. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.