The ambitions of the Houston Solar Project predate the existence of Silicon Ranch, the Southeast solar developer responsible for bringing the 68-MW array to Perry, Georgia. A flock of sheep graze beneath the tracking solar module rows covering 697 acres off Firetower Road in south Houston County, a breed of ewes that over two decades has adapted to the environmental conditions of the region.
Lambs born at the Houston Solar Project site live in the barn with their mother ewes and other sheep from their flock before grazing full-time underneath the solar array. Kelsey Misbrener/Solar Power World
Developing that tolerance to the Southeast’s hot, wet weather started with Roxanne Newton, a consultant for Silicon Ranch and its land management subsidiary Regenerative Energy, who 20 years prior bought a small flock of sheep to graze her land. She quickly discovered that her sheep were vulnerable to native parasites, and she transitioned from being a hobbyist shepherd to tracking and logging her flock’s gene data to breed a stock of sheep capable of surviving in this climate.
“We worry that all the work I did over 20 years will be thrown away,” Newton said. “I hope that Silicon Ranch can pick up where I left off.”
Jim Malooley, director of agrivoltaics operations at Silicon Ranch, said Newton is the single most impactful person for sheep genetics in the Southeast. Malooley is also a first-generation sheep farmer and was mentored by Newton.
“[Parasites] are a threat to any species,” he said. “The biggest killer of sheep in this country isn’t wolves or bobcats — it’s a parasite.”
Their efforts in sheep breeding have culminated in the Houston Solar Project, the first within Silicon Ranch’s portfolio that has on-site facilities for guiding sheep through their full lifecycle.
An open-air fabric barn hosts 16 pens housing up to 400 birthing ewes and lambs just outside the boundary fence of the solar array. While Solar Power World was visiting the site, we witnessed one birth. Several minutes after the lamb was born, it was upright and walking. The lamb will reside for a short time with its mother, other sheep and guardian dogs, socializing in the pen before living and grazing full-time beneath the solar array.
Houston Solar is built on both sides of Firetower Road, so the flock is routinely transferred from one side of the street to the other or guided from one section of the array to another for planned grazing. Agrivoltaic technicians, the shepherds keeping this flock, maintain a database of every sheep at Houston, connecting the newborn lamb to the ram that sired it and ewe that birthed it.
Operations there are a combination of modern practices matched with age-old customs.
“Shepherds and herding dogs have worked together forever, and we still do,” Malooley said.
Nigel the sheepdog trots beneath the Houston Solar Project in Perry, Georgia. Guardian and sheepdogs assist shepherds with raising and corralling the sheep here. Kelsey Misbrener/Solar Power World
The sheep are responsible for landscaping all 697 acres of the Houston Solar Project. In 2024, the agrivoltaics technicians didn’t need to mow the bulk of the land for the first time — only some minor cleanup around the perimeter. Instead, it was managed entirely by the sheep themselves over five planned grazes.
By using sheep instead of landscaping equipment, Silicon Ranch is naturally improving the health of the soil beneath the solar array and avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers and fossil fuels. Sheep manure acts as a natural fertilizer that increases the microbial activities in the soil, leaving it healthier than before. This process also boosts the land’s biodiversity, drawing more local wildlife to the site. But there’s still much to learn about soil health and how the flock is remediating it.
“We’re embracing the unknowns in the soil and the forages,” Malooley said. “It turns out that there are some rhythms in the chaos.”
Regenerative Energy was started to implement holistic land management practices on Silicon Ranch solar project sites. Houston Solar’s land was originally zoned for subdivisions. Instead, those nearly 700 acres retain a topsoil that will remain undisturbed by any other developments for the remainder of the solar project’s operating lifespan. Keeping the topsoil intact helps with water retention, preventing runoff from precipitation.
“It really was a revelation for us. We are owners of our land. As landowners, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the land,” said Matt Beasley, chief commercial officer of Silicon Ranch.
The array is composed of Nextracker NX Horizon-XTR single-axis solar trackers built at “sheep height,” with a leading edge of 24 in., so the flock can’t reach the First Solar panels above. There is additional spacing between tracker rows to accommodate farm equipment that can transport sheep or unfurl bales of hay for supplementary feed when the grass is dormant.
Silicon Ranch placed an electronic billboard next Interstate-75 to tout the achievements of the Houston Solar Project. Billy Ludt/Solar Power World
Flint Energies, a regional electric cooperative and member of Green Power EMC, entered a 15-MW power purchase agreement with Houston Solar.
“This right here is an important part of our power supply,” said Jeremy Nelms, CEO of Flint Energies.
The sprawling array abuts Interstate-75, and an electronic billboard erected next to the lambing barn conveys its accolades to commuters passing by. Silicon Ranch deploys sheep flocks on 25 of its solar projects, but Houston Solar’s setup isn’t something that can be repeated at every array it owns.
Houston Solar wouldn’t operate this way without the unique efforts of farmers in the Southeast. Sheep were once popular livestock among farms in the region, but the population has dwindled over the last century.
Malooley said Houston Solar is an example of how a solar project can provide parallel benefits of both energy and food security. He said this isn’t something Silicon Ranch can replicate at every project, because decades of work made it possible. Instead, the goal is to recognize the individual needs of each project and find new intersections between agriculture and energy production.
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