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https://electrek.co/2025/12/19/an-oregon-cattle-ranch-just-added-solar-without-losing-grazing-land/>
"An Angus ranch in southern Oregon has become the test case for a new kind of
cattle-friendly solar, hosting RUTE SunTracker’s first commercial project.
The one‑acre, 120‑kilowatt array is the first real‑world installation of RUTE’s
patented, cable‑stayed solar tracker designed specifically to coexist with
grazing cattle. RUTE supplies the hardware and is also acting as the developer
for its first regional cattle‑plus‑solar demonstrations.
What makes the setup different is the clearance. The tracker system provides
about 10 feet of headroom, with panel heights reaching up to 16 feet across the
array. That gives cattle full access to the pasture underneath while allowing
ranchers to keep managing the land as usual. The project is interconnected to
Pacific Power’s grid in Jackson County, Oregon.
Projects like this are getting more attention as the solar industry runs into
land‑use limits. In the US alone, about 30 gigawatts of new solar capacity
installed last year covered roughly 150,000 acres. Meanwhile, the country has
close to 120 million acres of cattle pasture, much of it facing rising heat and
water stress.
That’s where agrivoltaics come in. By adding solar to working pastureland,
ranchers can create a second revenue stream while improving growing conditions
for forage through partial shade.
“Within weeks of installing the RUTE canopy, the crew observed leafier forage
and increased legume presence inside the array compared to outside,” RUTE
president Doug Krause said. “Even on irrigated pasture, direct summer sun can
be too intense.”"
Via Seph.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
