Agrivoltaics in Minnesota: How Solar Farms Are Boosting Agriculture and Energy Production
As reported by civicmedia.us, approximately 2,200 lambs and sheep graze on native prairie grasses beneath and surrounding 1.7 million silicon panels at Xcel Energy’s Sherco solar installation near Becker during the growing season.
As Minnesota’s largest panel farm, the 4,700-acre expanse serves as the state’s highest-profile example of agrivoltaics. This practice combines solar power production with crops or pasture on the same plots of land.
The 17-acre installation at Big River Farms near Big Lake features about nine acres of fenced-in panel rows and eight acres outside the fenceline. Launched in 2023, the project operates as a partnership between Minneapolis-based community solar developer US Solar and emerging-farmer nonprofit The Food Group, according to civicmedia.us.
Peter Schmitt, US Solar’s director of project development, stated that farmers initially used the outside land as a hedge. Tenants now prefer the security of farming twenty different food and flower crops inside the array.
We had a bumper cucumber crop that did really well under the array, better than out in the field.
Schmitt also noted that bouquet flowers are thriving under the panels. When rodents threatened yields inside the predator-free enclosure, the team installed a doggy door on the fence to allow coyotes inside.
Grant funding from the National Laboratory of the Rockies—previously known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory—supports a two-year University of Minnesota study on crop performance at Big River Farms that is now nearing completion. Horticulture professor Nathan Eylands supervises the research and noted that leafy greens like kale grow better near the panels than in open fields.
Eylands’s team is also testing plants grown at Big River Farms for heavy metals like cadmium. This testing aims to address false claims that solar installations cause soil toxicity.
This is great for anyone who wants to dispel these myths. Let’s put some unbiased research in front of them [and show] we can harvest electrons and agricultural products off of the same land.
Roughly 100 miles west of Big River Farms, researchers at the West Central Research and Outreach Center near Morris have managed cattle-friendly solar arrays for nearly a decade. Dairy professor Brad Heins shared findings at a summer conference indicating that cows grazing under the panels run half a degree Fahrenheit cooler in the afternoon heat than open-field counterparts.
Heins explained that heat-stressed cows pant and move to dissipate heat, which causes them to tire and lose water faster. Pedometer data demonstrated that shaded animals moved less and drank more water.
Researchers built a trailer-mounted mobile solar shade power station last year that can shelter about 25 cows. They plan to construct a larger version capable of shading 40 animals.
Agrivoltaics face different hurdles on Minnesota’s 16 million acres planted with corn and soybeans, which are supported by data from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Modern planters are too wide for standard solar racks, and mature corn can shade the equipment by late summer.
Near Olivia, family farmers Rolly and Larry Rauenhorst invested roughly $75,000 to construct ten customized solar racks. These installations feature 14-foot panel heights that clear corn tassels and leave adequate space for farm machinery.
Mike Zastoupil, a food systems specialist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, pointed out the economic realities of scaling such projects.