Mount Morris Agrivoltaic Study

Abstract/Summary:

Co-locating Solar and Agriculture at the Morris Ridge Solar Energy Center (Study includes Morris Ridge Solar Energy Grazing Enterprise Budget.)

Excerpt:

-Co-locating sheep grazing with utility-scale solar photo- voltaic (PV) systems is a relatively new trend in the United States, and thus reviews of successful business models and availability of estimated enterprise budgets are limited.

-Many studies report on the cost savings of grazing sheep versus traditional mechanical mowing and trimming for vegetative management of solar sites, but few report on the profitability to the grazier from grazing sheep or lambs.

-To date, this nascent industry reports varying returns depending upon scale of PV systems, region of the country, and the business model adopted by the sheep grazier.

-This study builds upon current literature by estimating sheep graziers’ returns from grazing a utility-scale PV system in western New York—the Morris Ridge Solar Energy Center.