Can Cows and Solar Power Coexist? We’re About to Find Out

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• ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  First of all, if the solar panels don’t capture methane produced by cows this doesn’t solve anything (and they don’t).

  Second of all, cattle ranching is the main driver of deforestation in Amazon and putting solar panels on top of if is not going to help.

  Just eat less beef people.

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• Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Yeah… I don’t see why you couldn’t strap a solar panel to a cow. 🤷‍♂️

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• Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  BUT WHAT POWERS THE C0WS AT NIGHT?

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• Duamerthrax@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Rutgers has been exploring Agrivoltaics for a while. High mounted panels, crops that benefit from shade and pivoting panels with profiles for both following the sun and adjusting out of the way of equipment.

  Cows are entirely possible, but the concern isn’t with them chewing wires, but rubbing on poles or panels. They simply need to be high.

  agrivoltaics.rutgers.edu

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  • prettybunnys@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    They simply need to be high.

    Image

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• theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Irrelevant as cow or sheep farming shouldn’t be something we are doing either way.

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  • cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    No, but I’d rather they be under solar panels than some horror shit.

    I could even imagine a non-abused cow or sheep in a grassy solar field. Capitalism would have to end first, but, like, in theory.

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• growsomethinggood@reddthat.com ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  As I understand it, the reason sheep are so good is that they don’t graze up, so they’re unlikely to try munching on any power cords (unlike goats). I don’t know enough about cows to say definitively, but my guess is that you’re going to need the solar panels up high enough for them to be comfortable, and also sturdy enough that a leaning cow won’t knock them over. So it may work but the additional considerations could prove more expensive.

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  • reddig33@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    In the photo it looks like the lines are routed through the mounting poles and then buried. Hopefully that will prevent any munching.

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• chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  How are you supposed to grow high quality, high protein pasture in the shade?

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  • cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    That’s not how plants work.

    Numbers vary btwn species and individuals, but plants can only use so much light at once. Many can even sunburn!

    So grass growing at even 60% efficiency under a solar field running at even 60% efficiency isn’t a terrible use of land, and given the diminishing returns for tightly packed shit, you’re much more likely to get something like 100/80, which is an amazing use of land.

    Not as good as growing berries or basil or something down there, but pretty good.

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    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      High quality pasture isn’t just grass. It’s a mixture of grasses and legumes such as clover and alfalfa. The pasture should be slow to bolt and mature at different times throughout the season, providing the cattle with a good forage regardless of the temperatures.

      I’m aware of plants getting sunburn. I’ve seen it first hand as a gardener bringing seeds started indoors outside.

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  • silence7@slrpnk.net ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    In many places, the amount can grow is limited by available water, not sunlight. This means that adding solar panels above some, but not all, of the field lets you make significant use of that excess sunlight, increasing overall crop yield.

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    • Tobberone@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Not to mention that the added shade will help with moisture retention, which is another part of the reason why it is possible to increase crop yield when adding solar to a field.

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    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Oh yeah that makes perfect sense. I’m thinking from my area’s perspective which is the opposite: barely any sunlight at all and tons of rain/snow.

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  • turdas@suppo.fi ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Some plants actually grow better in the shade under solar panels than in direct sunlight. Of course it will depend on local climate too.

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    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Oh yeah, I’m an avid gardener. I grow stuff in the shade on purpose. It’s usually in the shade of a tree though. I would imagine a giant array of solar panels that always rotate to face the sun would cast much deeper, more solid shadows than trees do.

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