(sheep baaing) - Those sheep are our living lawn mowers, otherwise known as lambscapers, and they will be providing vegetation management services on site via targeted rotational grazing.

So they keep all of this greenery down to a lower height so that we avoid shading the panels.

And at the same time, they're benefiting by getting really good nutrition from that vegetation.

This community solar farm is five megawatts in size.

That means behind me, there are 7,200 solar panels.

But day to day, that is equivalent to about 1,200 homes and the electricity required to power those homes.

So this is a community solar project, also known as a distributed generation solar facility.

So that means that this electricity is going directly onto the electric grid here.

And then, ultimately, it's powering homes and businesses in the area.

But the way that community solar works means that any resident or business within that overall electric utility grid can benefit.

So at Pivot Energy, we're committed to 100% dual use.

So every single qualified solar site that will allow for sheep and has, you know, the right circumstances, we either deploy sheep or cropping or a pollinator habitat and soil enhancement type of work.

So across the country we have 72 projects that will have dual-use solar and agriculture on them.

And across Illinois, we have 25 projects by the end of this year that'll have dual use.

And it's working out really well.

I think that these sheep especially are really effective at keeping that vegetation down, and it's a great way for us to not just kind of deal with these grasses out on these properties.

I would just say that a lot of different stakeholders benefit from community solar projects like this.

So the landowner is compensated via a contracted lease to host the solar site.

Farm partners and other vendors in the area are compensated for their kind of construction services and ongoing services on site.

And then, again, back to those residents and businesses that can be subscribers, they're getting those energy savings on their bill every month.

So it really is something that's a win-win-win across a lot of different population types.

- We are a commercial sheep producer.

So we have about 100, 125 producing ewes.

We raise meat and lambs, we produce, and then we are ASGA-Certified Solar Graziers.

- [Mark] How did you get involved with solar grazing?

- So solar grazing came along probably four or five years ago.

We had a couple of solar sites come up near us, and we got looking at it that, man, there was a lot of grass there that really needed something to do with it, and we watched some guys mow it.

And so I started doing a Google search, and I found ASGA, the American Solar Grazing Association.

Reached out to them, and they were just a wealth of knowledge and a great network of people.

They got talking to us, and then we got us in connection.

And actually, one of the first people we talked to was Angie Burke from Pivot.

And she put us in contact with a farm partner group called United Agrivoltaics.

And they work with farmers locally that then take it, and then they can take direct contact with these solar developers and solar companies that maintain vegetation on all solar sites within a certain region.

So that becomes our responsibility.

My sheep will come on site here.

They'll maintain vegetation throughout the year.

We'll pull them off if the grass gets too short.

We'll bring more on if it gets too tall.

And then from there, we will continue to produce our lamb crop using their grass as we do it.

It's a great partnership to do it.

I'm using their grass to fatten my sheep, and it works out great because they then benefit from it that right now this is ground that is no longer in row crop, but it's still in production agriculture.

So I can still produce an agricultural commodity using this ground just like it did 10 years ago.

And in another 25 or 30 years when this project comes out of production agriculture, because if it's properly maintained and properly grazed, organic material, all the biomass that we're going to produce on here is going to actually make this a better ground than what it actually is today.

(sheep baaing) We are currently under contract for about 120 acres, several with Pivot and a few other partners, and we're looking to expand the portfolio.

We have a few more in the works.

Central Illinois is kind of a good site because we are so close to the grid that we have to pump that energy into it to get it spread out.

And we have a strong agricultural heritage here in Central Illinois, and this is a way for us to keep that.

(sheep baaing) A sheep is a good fit 'cause due, one, to the height of the panels, they can walk under and maintain that vegetation right up on it.

They like the cover to it.

Goats tend to be a little more top-down when they're eating, whereas sheep tend to keep their heads down as they move.

Cattle tend to be a little too big and are a little rough on the infrastructure.

And anything, and we compared to, our biggest competitor would be a mechanical machine, right?

But if I have to use a piece of equipment that cuts that grass, it also throws debris, and it throws dust, which then can lead to cracked panels, can lead to just dust on the panels, which inhibits the life of that panel.

We put sheep on here so they can increase that biomass, like I said, which helps with water infiltration, keeps that water not just running off, which then helps with erosion control.

It helps build up for the organic material.

And then we're not burning the fossil fuels as much when we're burning the grass.

We don't have to use as much chemicals for spray and herbicide use.

And that sheep then will come back through here, and then the manure and urine on there helps build up all that microbials and biomass.

(sheep baaing)