Responsibly designed and managed solar projects are environmentally low impact, and positively benefit the land and community.
Our project development and engineering teams work diligently with a range of community partners to responsibly steward the land and ecosystems where our projects are located.
We also work closely with local farmers to practice sustainable co-grazing at various project sites. It’s a great method of organic weed control that benefits local agricultural producers.
These projects are also a great way for landowners to realize economic and environmental benefit on subprime farmland, underutilized acreage, or over-farmed fields.
Hosting a solar project can help to restore land, often leaving it in better shape than it started.
Here are some of our solar farm stewardship practices:
No concrete – We install the racking for our community solar farms with steel piles instead of concrete. These piles can easily be removed so that the land can be restored to its originate state if the system is decommissioned in the future.
Native plantings to enhance biodiversity – In an effort to maximize the health of the land and soil, Renovus plants a diversity of native grasses and other meadow plants at our solar farms. These native plants and grasses provide habitat and are a food source for song birds, pollinators, other beneficial insects, and small mammals. Many of the sites we develop have been heavily farmed or were non-agrarian sites (like gravel pits and junkyards) and are being restored to a more biodiverse, natural state. We have a strict policy against using non-organic chemicals or weed control agents.
Sheep – In partnership with local farmers, we often use sheep grazing to manage the vast green areas under and around solar farms. Using sheep grazing reduces greenhouse gas emissions and eliminates the need for fossil fuel driven mowers and weed whackers. It serves the dual benefit of supporting local agriculture by providing farmers with extra income and the chance to give their fields a rest. The sheep are provided with shelter, water, and the animals are routinely checked on.
Highest quality materials – We exclusively use ‘Tier 1’ solar panels on all our solar farm project. This is an accreditation standard that guarantees that the modules are of the highest quality. The solar panels we use are made with recyclable materials – primarily glass, silicon (sand), aluminum, copper, and steel. We recycle the panels at the end of their useful life and also use 100% recyclable steel piles and racking to mount the solar panels.
Low impact decommissioning – We employ industry-standard best practices for decommissioning of our solar farms. Most components of the solar farm, including the glass, semiconductor material, steel, aluminum, and copper, are all recyclable. The land can be returned to it’s natural state after decommissioning, often in better shape than it started.
To learn more about our solar farm projects contact firstname.lastname@example.org or call us at (607) 277-1777.
Interested in leasing your land for solar farms? Visit renovussolar.com/landleasing