RALEIGH, N.C. — The growing number of solar farms in North Carolina require large tracts of land, and the areas around the solar panels must be free of tall vegetation. Now some local solar companies have found a way to not only produce energy, but also use the land to host pollen-producing plants for bees and other beneficial insects critical to agriculture.

Kathryn Parker, vegetation construction manager with Strata Solar of Raleigh, said at first, it was hard to imagine how solar farms and native plants could coexist.

"They didn't seem like natural partners for that inside-the-fence area,” Parker said. "They did seem like really good candidates for replacing the turf grasses that were being planted outside of the facility."

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is working with solar developers to establish recommendations for planting native pollinator habitats on solar farms. Bees are under increasing threat from disease, pesticides and loss of habitat. In late March, for the first time ever, a bumblebee species was placed on the Endangered Species List.

Parker said many cities and counties require visual buffers around a solar farm and, instead of ornamental shrubs, her company is using more native plants - like magnolias, wax myrtles and American holly. She said the native plants grow quickly, making it an easy business decision.

"That was something that, very early on, was kind of a no-brainer switch-out to start replacing more ornamental shrubs and trees with natives,” she said.

The Wildlife Resources Commission recommendations for planting include short-growing, native seed mixes under solar panels, and diverse seed mixes between the rows of panels and in the buffer areas.


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By Bryce Oates for Resource Rural.
Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Resource Rural-Public News Service Collaboration

At the end of each growing season, Grand Rapids, Minnesota berry farmer Stuart Lavalier is ready for cold weather to set in, exhausted from the long hours and hard work required to grow high-quality strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and apples for local customers.

Lavalier uses the off-season to rest and recuperate, finding that, “somehow over a mostly, restful winter, the excitement of another year comes back like the first warm day of spring.”

The berry grower added an additional crop recently to his family’s farm when he installed a 27.3 kW solar array. In its first year of operations, the financial benefits are clear.

“We’re seeing a negative number on our electric bill,” Lavalier said. “We don’t have a huge electricity bill but the solar covers it. . . .We’ve been getting a check back each month of about $300.” 

Lavalier’s decision to add solar to his farm began a decade ago while attending a statewide growers conference. He went in thinking about finding solutions for the usual farm production challenges in the Upper Midwest: drought, insect and pest damage, changing weather patterns, hail, wind, and more. 

But along with valuable production-oriented information from the conference, he was inspired by a fellow berry grower to consider a different set of issues related to his farm’s future: the option of installing solar panels.

“That grower talked about how he wanted to give back, to do what’s right, to grow more on the farm than just berries,” Lavalier said. “People at that time were saying you’re never going to get your back, you’re never going to get the payback. But he said I want to make a difference. He talked about how we need to be thinking about the future. I thought that was a good answer.”

Doing something positive for the future spoke to Lavalier, who spent 32 years teaching elementary students. Installing a solar array didn’t just impact the farm’s bottom line: it provided a way for his operation to be more self-reliant. After seeing the benefit over time, he got involved with the Iron Range Solar Co-op, organized locally by Solar United Neighbors. 

When he learned about a potential federal grant that could help cover 25-50% of solar array costs, Lavalier decided the time was right to go forward. Through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), farmers and rural small businesses like Lavalier can receive grants and loans to support clean energy systems and energy efficiency projects. 

Lavalier was awarded a REAP grant for his solar project, providing a substantial financial incentive to help meet his values for local, non polluting, decentralized energy production. “Once I knew I wanted to get solar on our farm, I found out about the REAP grant,” Lavalier said. “It made a difference. It made me feel comfortable going ahead, because then I knew I had that additional support to make it work.”

Lavalier, who received critical grant application and installation assistance from the local business Real Solar, hopes that his participation in REAP could help other people apply to the program. “Go ahead and go for it. There are great rebates and incentives. I’m looking forward to getting an EV (electric vehicle),” Lavalier said. 

The berry farmer’s only regret is that he didn’t maximize the size of his solar array.
“I kind of wish we would have went bigger,” Lavalier said.


Bryce Oates wrote this article for Resource Rural.


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Nevada leaders have announced a new calculator that will help homeowners and renters determine how much they can save by tapping into electrification incentives.

Kristee Watson, executive director with the Nevada Conservation League, explained that the tool is a "collaborative approach" to ensure Nevadans are able to save money and decrease reliance on fossil fuels. She said earlier this year her nonprofit went knocking door to door in Clark and Washoe counties and had conversations about Rewiring America's energy-efficient upgrade savings calculator with more than 25,000 Nevadans. She called it a game changer.

"We see it as our job to make sure that we are going out and educating people about how they can save money and drive down their energy usage, and this Rewiring America tool makes that easier," she explained.

She said while there is a push to ensure lower-income Nevadans are also able to reap the benefits and funds made available through the Inflation Reduction Act, there are programs with less stringent income requirements, or none at all. You can find the incentive calculator at 'homes.rewiringamerica.org.'

Watson said as more Nevadans decide to make their homes more energy efficient, it'll take less energy to cool and heat them, meaning decreased levels of fossil fuels, which negatively impact the environment and public health. She added that the available incentives, rebates and tax credits will help folks save money now and in the future.

"We can tell people all day long, but sending them to an IRS website is a really negative experience and that is what we want to avoid. We want people to be making decisions that are going to protect air quality and health, but we want to do it in an easy way - a consumer friendly way," she said.

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said she is proud to have helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act and bring federal dollars to southern Nevada communities who are on the front lines of what she calls the climate crisis. She added that the federal investments are creating jobs as well as advancing a resilient clean-energy economy.

"$14 billion in outside investment in clean energy projects in our state alone, that means 20,000 new jobs in our state with a projection of up to 40,000 new jobs over the next 10 years," she explained.

Ohio will receive more than $32 million in federal funding to help revive auto manufacturing and jobs in the state, specifically electric vehicle production at a plant in Toledo.

U.S. vehicle manufacturing has been on the decline since the 1970s, but the Biden administration is providing $1.7 billion in grants from the Inflation Reduction Act to help convert nearly a dozen manufacturing facilities on the cusp of closing into EV producers.

Anne Blair, vice president of policy for the nonprofit Electrification Coalition, said the projects will collectively create more than 2,900 new, skilled jobs and help ensure more than 15,000 union workers are employed in eight states.

"We're excited to see the Biden administration investing in domestic manufacturing of EVs," Blair pointed out. "This funding will create good-paying American jobs and give consumers and businesses more vehicle choices."

Around four in 10 Americans said they are "very or somewhat likely" to consider an electric vehicle as their next car purchase, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey. Opponents of EVs argued they are expensive, and said people are not buying enough of them to warrant more production.

Blair believes the nation's continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels leaves it increasingly vulnerable to foreign influence and the whim of global markets.

"For a century, oil has had a monopoly on our transportation, which has led to dire national security risks," Blair asserted. "Electric vehicles are a critical alternative to the dangers of our oil dependency."

The U.S. is among the largest consumers of oil in the world; in 2022, the Americans used an average of around 20 million barrels of petroleum per day, according to federal data.


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