Pollinator-friendly arrays like this one in Southern Ohio can preserve precious grassland habitat for the animals that rely on it.
The United States is losing an average of 2 million acres of grasslands annually, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Many of the animals that call these habitats home are diminishing in kind.
Energy projects typically aren’t seen as part of the solution to conservation. But a ground-mount solar array using native groundcover has actually helped the cause in one Ohio county.
TMI Energy Solutions (No. 211 on the 2024 Top Solar Contractors List), an EPC based in Southern Ohio, planned its first pollinator-friendly solar array in 2021. The contractor was looking to cut down on mowing costs and try something new for its 717-kW project for Paint Valley Local Schools.
“We were trying to make our systems more sustainable, more environmentally friendly, rather than just having turf lawn or gravel or something like that,” said Ryan Findley, director of engineering at TMI.
In its research, TMI was introduced to Seth Rankin, owner of Conservation Contracting. Rankin helped the company determine the right seed mix of native plants that wouldn’t grow too tall and shade the panels.
“We want to develop a mixture with a target height of around 3 ft or so. We know vegetation is going to get taller than that, but we don’t want to intentionally plant a bunch of species that for sure are going to get 6- or 7-ft [tall],” Rankin said.
The upfront costs of planting native grass instead of turf or gravel is a bit higher, but the deferred maintenance costs for the lifetime of the project quickly lead to savings.
“In Ohio, we’ve had to mow [other sites] five or six times during the summer — getting completely unruly. So that’s not happening now,” Findley said.
For the first couple of years as the native plants are getting established, a bit more maintenance is required — but that still only means five or so mowings a year plus some spray control on invasive plants. Once the plants are established and thick enough to crowd out invasive weeds, those needs are even less.
The business case for pollinator-friendly solar projects is solid, but to a conservationist like Rankin, the environmental benefits are even more important. Ross County, where the Paint Valley solar project is located, is one of a few small pockets in Ohio where Northern Bobwhite quail still live. The species has experienced an 81% population decline over the past 50 years as grasslands vanish due to issues like climate change and heavy farming.
When Rankin checked on the native grass solar site after the first growing season in 2021, he heard what he thought was a Bobwhite whistle.
“Sometimes, you’ll hear mockingbirds that sound like a Bobwhite quail. So I was like, ‘I have to investigate,'” Rankin said. “I went inside the fence, and sure enough, [out] jumped a quail.”
The Northern Bobwhite quail is declining in numbers as grasslands disappear, but TMI’s Paint Valley solar array has attracted the birds. Chase D’Animulls | Adobe Stock
He was thrilled the birds found the solar project to still be a good place to mate, forage and hopefully even nest.
“I knew there were quail in the area prior to this. My hope was to attract them into the inside of the solar planting,” Rankin said. “There’s already an extremely limited number of quail in Ohio. Any type of habitat that we can create for quail is really important.”
Grassland is a threatened habitat that solar developers can play an active role in replacing. Using pollinator-friendly native plants on sites with 25+ year lifespans is a great way to give species like the Bobwhite that are reliant on dense, native grasses a shot at a comeback.
“I think it’s really important for solar developers to consider pollinator habitat as a vegetative groundcover,” Rankin said. “Even just letting a piece of ground sit idle, it’ll eventually turn into forest, which is good for some species, but again, it takes away from grassland habitat. So anytime we can restore what was once there is extremely important.”
TMI Energy has since installed a second native grass solar array in Ohio, and is working on a third.
“It’s kind of standard operating procedure now to push that idea, unless we get told, ‘No,'” Findley said.
The company is even adjusting its designs to avoid shading with native plants and cut down on maintenance even more.
“Now, we’re actually making changes to our designs too, where we’re actually elevating our ground mounts by another 6 in. to 1 ft, so that those problems are even less prevalent,” Findley said. “So we can maximize solar production and maximize that nice, healthy, diverse ecosystem.”
This story was featured exclusively in our 2024 Top Solar Contractors issue. See the issue and full list of top U.S. solar installers here.
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Towns/Municipalities should mandate the use of native plants as part of the local approval process. There has also been an increase in designing installations that allow grazing under solar panels. Both of these allow the land being used to continue providing back to their communities.