Right by Connexus Energy's headquarters in Ramsey is a first of its kind: a commercial honey operation, fed by pollinator gardens under an acre of solar panels.
It's an example of a new field called agrivoltaics — something clean-energy advocates say is essential for the country to increase the amount of energy coming from the sun from 3% to 20% by 2050.
The idea is to place the solar plants of the future in working farmland, generating energy and providing another income stream to farmers. So far, the field is in its infancy, but more projects are taking off in Minnesota and across the Midwest — by utilities, universities and privately owned businesses.
For six years, researchers at the West Central Research and Outreach Center at the University of Minnesota, Morris, have been investigating the possible benefits of using solar panels as shade for cows.
Traditional solar installations take farmland out of commission, sparking opposition. Nearly one-third of the counties in Indiana have ordinances restricting, if not prohibiting, renewable projects — mainly protesting interest in putting solar panels on farmland. Farther south, a Louisiana parish recently approved a commercial solar moratorium in an area that's home to both dense petrochemical industry and sugarcane fields.
Yet advocates believe keeping the farmland in use might be the answer.
"We have sunlight and in my opinion, there are a lot of solar systems going up in Minnesota and probably taking up valuable farmland," said Bradley Heins, a professor at the university's outreach center. "People don't like that. Can we still utilize solar energy and not take away the farmland?"
Solar to honey to beer