2025 Project Awards Finalists
Recognizing outstanding achievements and excellence of built and operating projects advancing dual-use solar development.
Solar Farm of the Year Finalists
Recognizing outstanding achievements and excellence in solar farming.
The Solar Farm of the Year Award recognizes an agrivoltaics project achieving exceptional advancements in growing vegetables, fruits, grains and other crops in agrivoltaic systems in the field. This singular award celebrates a solar farm that has gone beyond the successful adoption of agrivoltaics, inspiring broader impact and contributing exemplary best practices to the working knowledge of solar farming.
Agrivoltaic Testing Grounds at CSU
Vertical solar fences powering crop research in Colorado
At Colorado State University’s Agricultural Research, Development, and Education Center (ARDEC) in Fort Collins, Sandbox Solar and CSU are advancing agrivoltaic innovation through a pioneering project that integrates solar energy and active farmland with minimal disruption. Featuring three vertical bifacial solar fence arrays inspired by successful European models, this design captures sunlight on both sides of the panels while allowing traditional farm machinery to operate freely beneath. By demonstrating how solar energy can coexist with crop production — in this case, with corn — this project addresses real-world challenges for farmers seeking sustainable solutions that protect their livelihood and Colorado’s energy future.
The project’s vertical bifacial solar fences are fixed, non-tracking panels designed to maximize energy capture from both sides while occupying minimal ground space. This setup reduces shading conflicts and allows farm equipment to pass freely between, preserving normal agricultural operations. To measure impacts precisely, the team uses advanced tools like Licor 6400xt devices for real-time photosynthesis monitoring and GroGuru sensors to track soil moisture and temperature. Additionally, Sandbox Solar’s custom SPADE modeling software simulates light patterns and solar irradiance throughout the growing season, helping optimize fence placement and crop compatibility. These technical insights are key to proving agrivoltaics can support high-value, sun-demanding crops like corn without compromising energy production or farm productivity.
This initiative stands out for its comprehensive, data-driven approach. The team collects detailed measurements on soil moisture, photosynthesis, crop yields, and energy output to better understand how solar shading affects crops, especially sun-loving varieties like corn. A custom agrivoltaic modeling tool called SPADE helps simulate light conditions and optimize array design for scalability. Public engagement is a cornerstone, with live data access and field tours fostering transparency and collaboration. Supported by partners including Sunzaun and Greentech Renewables, this project is setting a national example for durable, low-maintenance agrivoltaic systems that can be replicated across diverse farming regions. By bridging research, technology, and community, the Agrivoltaic Testing Grounds at CSU illuminate a promising path toward a resilient and sustainable agricultural landscape.
Discover more about this groundbreaking work and its impact at the links below.
Lettuce Shine
Elevated agrivoltaic solar towers in Oregon
Located at Our Table Farm, a 60-acre cooperative farm near Sherwood, Oregon, Lettuce Shine is pioneering the integration of solar energy and crop production in a region where summers are increasingly hot and dry. This innovative project installs 75 kW of dual-axis tracking solar panels on tall towers, allowing traditional planting and harvesting of heat-sensitive crops like lettuce and spinach to continue uninterrupted beneath. By providing dynamic shade that moves throughout the day, the solar towers help protect crops while generating more electricity than fixed panels. The farm’s transition to net-zero energy also enhances local resilience, making this a vital example of how agriculture and renewable energy can coexist to support farmers and communities.
What sets Lettuce Shine apart is its cutting-edge technology and real-world impact. The dual-axis Stracker Solar towers optimize sunlight capture by following the sun’s path, boosting power generation well beyond conventional arrays. Complementing this, 80 kWh of battery storage from Sol-Ark creates Oregon’s first agrivoltaic microgrid, enabling the farm to maintain critical refrigeration and its farm store during grid blackouts. This ensures continuous food access for the local community even during emergencies. Oregon State University researchers, led by Prof. Chad Higgins, are closely studying this project to identify the ideal balance between crop shade needs and solar energy production, providing data to inform future agrivoltaic designs. Supported by community cooperation and advanced research, Lettuce Shine offers a scalable model for sustainable farming and energy resilience.
Learn more about Lettuce Shine and how it’s reshaping the future of agrivoltaics at Oregon Clean Power Cooperative and watch an overview on YouTube.
Madison Fields
Bringing agriculture into utility-scale solar in Ohio
In July 2024, Savion began commercial operation of the Madison Fields Solar Project in Madison County, Ohio. InfraRed Capital Partners and Savion jointly own the project, and Shell serves as the project’s asset manager, but what makes the project unique is that it was Savion’s first agriculture-enabled solar farm built to integrate agrivoltaics and allow farming to carry on.
Agricultural production began in the Spring of 2023 at the Madison Fields Project, with 45 acres of wheat and soybeans planted inside the fence, and an 80-acre soybean harvest later that year. The ground was conditioned to seed alfalfa, cool season hay mix, a variety of cover crops, and soybeans in May of 2024. Corn and soybeans were also planted on approximately 125 acres inside the fence in May and June of last year. The Savion team also planted 25 acres of native seed and pollinator habitat, and the rest of the entire site has been seeded with a mix suitable for hay and grazing.
Deploying a model that brings in local farmers to manage the agricultural production of the AgPV solar farm, each farmer invests in the start-up of the harvest, including seeding and fertilizer, and gets to keep the revenue the harvest generates. Savion has embraced this practice to provide a way for the installation of utility-scale solar sites to become utility-scale solar farms and provide the literal and functional foundation for dual-use land opportunities in the community, creating opportunities for farmers, doubling the utilization of the land as well as local economic impact.
The project's goal is to have Madison Fields completely dedicated to agriculture within five years.
Learn more on the Madison Fields Solar Project website below.
Native Hill Farms Mobile Agrivoltaic Array
Movable solar meets mobile greenhouses in Northern Colorado
At Native Hill Farm in Fort Collins, Colorado, a partnership with Sandbox Solar has yielded a one-of-a-kind agrivoltaic solution tailored to the rhythms of a diversified vegetable farm. Native Hill is known for its strong commitment to ecological farming—including cover cropping, crop rotation, and minimizing soil disturbance to build long-term fertility. To support these regenerative practices, the farm uses mobile greenhouses that slide along rails, allowing fields to “rest” under cover crops part of the year while extending the growing season in others. When Native Hill sought to expand its use of solar power, they needed a solution that wouldn’t interfere with this delicate balance. Together with Sandbox Solar, they developed a mobile 16kW bifacial solar array that could move with the farm’s greenhouses—tracking the sun and generating clean energy without interrupting the farm’s soil care systems.
Built on a custom rail system, the array uses single-axis tracking and folds down to roll beneath greenhouse structures as needed. It’s also seasonally moveable, connected through a 300-foot plug-and-receptacle trench to allow flexible deployment as fields and rotations shift. This seamless integration of solar and sustainable horticulture enables the farm to reach full energy independence without sacrificing productivity or soil health. By prioritizing the long-term viability of the land—and working within its limitations rather than around them—Native Hill and Sandbox Solar have created a replicable model for energy-smart agriculture that other space-constrained or mobile operations can follow.
Learn more about Native Hill Farm’s agrivoltaic journey and its potential to inspire other growers at the links below.
Ring Road
Dual-use cranberry farming and solar energy with battery storage in Massachusetts
The Ring Road Agrivoltaics Project in Kingston, Massachusetts, is a groundbreaking model for how clean energy infrastructure can work in harmony with agricultural heritage. Spearheaded by Distributed Energy, this 4.4 MW solar farm is built directly over active cranberry bogs—one of the region’s most iconic and economically important crops. Rather than replacing farmland, this project enhances it, proving that agriculture and solar can not only coexist, but thrive together. Paired with a 13.5 MWh battery energy storage system, the project delivers reliable, renewable energy to the grid while boosting the resilience and productivity of local cranberry farming.
What sets this project apart is its layered impact. Elevated solar arrays preserve cranberry cultivation by allowing farming operations to continue below, while the panels provide shade that reduces water loss and crop heat stress. In a time of increasing climate pressure, this microclimate effect is crucial to soil moisture conservation and long-term crop health. The battery system adds further value by storing energy for use during peak times—stabilizing the grid and strengthening local energy security. Environmental care was a top priority: vehicle access was minimized during construction, durable ground mats were used to prevent compaction, and installation crews were trained to avoid disrupting the delicate bog ecosystem. The project team upheld a commitment to leaving no trace, ensuring that the bogs could continue to thrive post-installation. As part of Massachusetts' SMART program, the project advances state goals while serving as a model for agricultural land preservation amid renewable energy development.
The Ring Road Agrivoltaics Project redefines the future of clean energy and sustainable agriculture. It proves that dual-use systems can work even in highly specialized farming contexts, setting a replicable standard for land-constrained areas across the country. At the heart of its success is a project team whose deep respect for the land and commitment to environmental stewardship guided every decision—showing that innovation and care can go hand in hand.
Learn more about this forward-thinking solution to land use and energy at Distributed Energy’s portfolio or watch the video.
Spaces of Opportunity
Community-powered solar farming in South Phoenix, Arizona
In the heart of South Phoenix’s food desert, a 4.8 kW agrivoltaics project is transforming how solar and farming can coexist for the benefit of people, plants, and place. Launched at Spaces of Opportunity, a 19-acre urban farm where low-income farmers grow produce to sell or donate, this project integrates solar panels with over 800 transplants beneath them—feeding local families while demonstrating the potential of dual-use agriculture in high-heat urban environments. Produce is being donated to school cafeterias, farmers markets, and food banks, expanding access to healthy food while building local resilience. This community-driven project was made possible by $17,000 in donations and sponsorships and was awarded the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award, reflecting the grassroots commitment behind its success.
What makes this agrivoltaics project exceptional is its combination of real-world application, scientific research, and educational value. The team is collaborating with the USDA Arid Land Research Center to monitor plant yields, temperature impact, and other environmental benefits. Their most recent study—tracking 120 pepper plants—showed that crops under the solar panels produced 4.5 times more than those in control beds during the extreme heat of an Arizona summer. The data collected here will support a peer-reviewed paper and help farmers across the Southwest adopt climate-smart agriculture. A second agrivoltaics system at Gardens of Tomorrow, supported by Tiger Mountain Foundation, FOREnergy, and Titan Solar, powers farm tools and supports food distribution through markets that serve local communities. Both installations offer tangible proof that solar and agriculture can work together, even in some of the hottest, most challenging urban growing environments in the country.
This finalist shows how dual-use solar can nourish both people and possibility. Learn more about the project here:
Solar Ranch of the Year Finalists
Recognizing outstanding achievements and excellence in solar ranching.
The Solar Ranch of the Year Award recognizes an agrivoltaics project making extraordinary progress pairing livestock grazing with solar power generation. This singular award celebrates a solar ranch that has gone beyond the incorporation of livestock, inspiring broader impact and contributing exemplary best practices to the working knowledge of agrivoltaic systems harnessing both solar power and animal power.
Blue Jay Solar + Storage
Veteran-powered, pollinator-friendly, and grazed by 7,000 sheep in Grimes County, Texas
Blue Jay Solar + Storage is a landmark project in Grimes County, Texas, showing how large-scale clean energy infrastructure can support ecosystems and livelihoods. Spanning 2,700 acres with more than 658,000 solar panels, the site produces 270 megawatts of electricity and includes a 59-megawatt battery storage system. But what truly sets Blue Jay apart is its holistic integration of agrivoltaics—supporting pollinators, grazing livestock, and strengthening communities. McDonald’s, the plant’s major power purchaser, went beyond a clean energy procurement to co-develop ecological enhancements onsite, including a custom pollinator-friendly seed mix planted across 20 acres of restored land. Through a collaboration with Hives for Heroes, military veterans maintain on-site apiaries, combining conservation with healing and job creation. And at the ground level, sheep from Texas Solar Sheep help manage vegetation—part of the largest solar grazing agreement in the U.S.—while giving ranchers new pathways to sustain their operations.
This is a site where people and purpose meet at utility scale. Local ranchers like Kade and Morgan Hodges now manage sheep at Blue Jay, part of a growing solar grazing business that earned them recognition from the Texas Farm Bureau in 2024. Their story reflects the promise of agrivoltaics to revitalize agricultural livelihoods in new settings. Enel is no stranger to solar pollinator habitats—its Aurora solar project (2024’s NAAA Solar Ecosystem of the Year) proved that planting native grasses and flowering plants could increase native bee abundance by 20 times. At Blue Jay, that ethos continues through Hives for Heroes, which connects veterans and first responders to conservation work and apprenticeship opportunities. With proven ecosystem service benefits and replicable models for grazing, pollination, and energy storage, Blue Jay offers a compelling template for agrivoltaics on large-scale solar farms.
To learn more about the people, practices, and partnerships making this project thrive, visit the articles below.
Burgundy Brook Farm
Cattle grazing agrivoltaics in Massachusetts
BlueWave’s Palmer Site at Burgundy Brook Farm is helping redefine what’s possible in agrivoltaics. Located in Belchertown, Massachusetts, this 2-megawatt solar array was custom-designed with extra-tall racking to accommodate cattle grazing and hay production beneath the panels. Operated in partnership with farmer Tom Roberts Jr. and his family, the system allows the farm to continue its core agricultural activities while also producing clean energy for the local grid—including helping to power Lowell General Hospital. At a time when most grazing-focused solar farms involve sheep, this site offers a rare and replicable example of solar that works for larger livestock, too.
Cattle agrivoltaics projects require additional investment to account for the height and durability needed for grazing infrastructure—but BlueWave has taken this challenge as an opportunity to lead. The project is one of five dual-use solar farms developed by the company under Massachusetts’ SMART program, which incentivizes projects that preserve agricultural land use. BlueWave’s broader vision is not only to generate renewable energy but to empower local farmers and residents with access to clean energy solutions. By working closely with the Roberts family, BlueWave has ensured that farm productivity remains central, supporting both energy transition goals and rural livelihoods. In addition to its practical benefits, the farm has served as an early educational site, welcoming visitors to learn more about the emerging field of agrivoltaics and inspiring future adoption. With proven success and the power to shift perceptions about how solar can coexist with cattle operations, the Palmer site is a compelling case for integrating large-scale livestock into the clean energy landscape.
Learn more about how Burgundy Brook Farm is growing both clean energy and cattle:
- Dual Use | BlueWave
- BlueWave's Agrivoltaic solar array now online in Palmer - masslive.com
- https://www.youtube.com/@bluewavesolar6630
- Burgundy Brook Farm in Belchertown, MA
- Solar Farm: Project in Palmer has cows grazing under a solar canopy - masslive.com
- Sun-powered cows thrive in Palmer under solar canopy project
Crystal Hill Solar
Community-Driven Grazing + Pollinator-Focused Agrivoltaics in Virginia
Crystal Hill Solar, located in Crystal Hill, Virginia, is a standout example of how agrivoltaics can be rooted in local values from the very start. As Urban Grid’s first solar project developed on land they own, the team took a distinctly community-first approach: before installing a single post, they committed to a dual-use vision that includes rotational sheep grazing and dedicated pollinator habitat. Working directly with local farmers, Jess and Marcus Gray of Gray’s LAMBscaping and Allison Wickham of Siller Pollinator Company, Urban Grid created an integrated solar site that supports clean energy production, pollinator biodiversity, and local agriculture—all while staying deeply connected to the people of Crystal Hill.
More than a technical project, Crystal Hill is a reflection of community collaboration and land stewardship. The grazing operation supports the local food economy: sheep raised on-site are sold at the local sale barn and available in nearby stores. Urban Grid intentionally selected a diverse seed mix that nourishes both livestock and pollinators, and keeps bees on-site to enhance pollination and produce honey. The company has become a recognizable and welcomed part of the community, with neighborhood sheep drives, regular engagement events, and even barbecue lunches hosted by a local vendor for site workers. Their outreach is ongoing and genuine, inviting neighbors into the process and fostering trust and excitement about agrivoltaics. The result is a replicable model where energy production, agriculture, and community values grow together.
This community-powered solar farm shows how solar development can be a neighborly act. Learn more about Crystal Hill Solar and see it in action.
High Point Solar Farm
A multi-use clean energy landscape in Illinois
At High Point Solar Farm in Lena, Illinois, the future of land use is already in full swing. Developed by ACCIONA Energía, this site is a rare and remarkable example of overlapping clean energy technologies and agricultural practices within a single landscape. The 100 MW solar facility is co-located with the long-established 100 MW EcoGrove Wind Farm, making this one of the largest dual-renewable energy sites in the state. In addition to its energy production, the land is actively managed for sheep grazing within the solar array, while corn and soybeans continue to be farmed near the wind turbines. This thoughtful integration shows that solar and wind energy can coexist with, and even support, continued agricultural productivity.
What makes High Point even more impactful is the way it supports local livelihoods. The solar grazing operation is managed by a third-generation farm family from the region, whose sheep maintain vegetation throughout the site with the help of a mini-jack donkey for predator control. The continued crop farming within the wind turbine footprint highlights how traditional agriculture and energy infrastructure can share space with minimal disruption. The result is a scalable and replicable model for land stewardship that balances food, fiber, and fuel while supporting rural economies. With two forms of renewable energy and two types of agricultural use on the same land, High Point offers a powerful case study in multifunctional, sustainable development.
Learn more about the site, the people behind it, and the full landscape in action at High Point Solar Farm’s website, this article, or watch the videos below.
Peacock Solar
Utility-Scale Grazing Solar Farm in Texas
Texas grazier Ely Valdez has praised Peacock Solar as a “5-star site for utility-scale solar grazing,” underscoring its standout role in combining renewable energy with productive agriculture. This 187MW project in Texas is Lightsource bp’s first to fully integrate a comprehensive set of grazing infrastructure standards into its design — standards that are part of one of the most advanced utility-scale solar grazing programs in the U.S., which has already deployed over 3GW of grazing contracts nationwide.
The site’s “sheep-ready” infrastructure is extensive and thoughtfully engineered. Nearly 24,000 feet of custom-grounded paddock fencing, 104 internal gates, and 20 road access points divide the sprawling 887-acre site into 16 manageable paddocks with two water access points. Starting with Peacock, Lightsource bp’s engineering team developed this specialized fencing system to meet the unique demands of sheep grazing alongside solar arrays. Throughout the year, the flock size fluctuates between 600 and 1,500 ewes grazing on a carefully curated 100% Texas native seed mix, designed in collaboration with local partners to maximize sheep nutrition and pollinator habitat benefits.
Peacock Solar’s success grew from early and ongoing community engagement. Local stakeholders expressed strong interest in agrivoltaics from the outset, prompting the developer to incorporate grazing infrastructure into the project’s initial design. This partnership extended to the day-to-day management of the flock, with several local residents actively involved. The project also powers a nearby manufacturing plant whose employees raised funds through a charity auction to name two lamb “mascots” — “Baaalberta” and “Wooloo.” These lambs, growing up beneath the solar panels and proudly wearing their custom bandanas, symbolize Peacock’s lasting legacy of community support and collaboration.
Learn more about Peacock Solar, its innovative grazing program, and community impact at the project website or in this news release. And find pictures highlighting the sheep naming fundraiser and Baaalberta and Wooloo in their bandanas on LinkedIn. Check out the story in bp's news.
SunSmart Ames Community Solar Farm
Community-led solar access and seasonal sheep grazing in Iowa
SunSmart Ames brings clean energy and agrivoltaics together in a model that prioritizes community inclusion, land stewardship, and sustainable design. A collaboration between the City of Ames and ForeFront Power, this 2 MW community solar project invites local residents, including renters and those with shaded rooftops, to participate in renewable energy generation by purchasing “Power Packs,” shares of the farm’s solar output. The program not only makes solar more accessible but also allows participants to gift clean energy shares to local churches and community groups. This turns solar into a kind of local currency, rooted in shared environmental and social value.
Beyond equitable energy access, SunSmart Ames demonstrates how solar farms can be thoughtfully integrated with the landscape. The site partners with Sheep on the Go Ames, a local grazing business, to manage vegetation through seasonal sheep grazing. Around 50 sheep, and eventually lambs born on site, naturally control plant growth, enrich the soil, and reduce the need for mowing or herbicides, all while coexisting peacefully with the panels. This approach lowers maintenance costs, supports local agriculture, and highlights the practical potential of agrivoltaics in community-scale solar. The site offsets enough emissions to equal 113 million passenger car miles over 20 years. Still, its most lasting contribution may be how it connects people, land, and energy in a shared vision for a cleaner future.
SunSmart Ames shows how solar can serve both people and place—delivering reliable clean energy while modeling smarter land use and community investment.
Learn more:
Solar Ecosystem of the Year Finalists
Recognizing outstanding achievements and excellence in ecovoltaics.
The Solar Ecosystem of the Year Award recognizes an ecovoltaics project making exceptional strides synergizing solar energy and ecosystem services. This singular award celebrates a dual-use project that not only successfully combines solar power generation with environmental conservation and ecological function, but establishes new benchmarks for the integration of beneficial vegetation, wildlife and ecosystem services into solar energy systems.
Black Bear
Powering homes and pollinating farms in Virginia
Dominion Energy’s 1.6 MW Black Bear Solar project in Buckingham County, Virginia went operational in 2022 but has drawn more recent attention as a thriving apiary. Partnering with Mountain House Apiaries, and deploying Italian honey bees as natural landscape managers that also happen to benefit local agriculture, Dominion Energy is now in the honey business and its bees are helping pollinate the neighborhood.
The $7.5 million solar project produces enough electricity to power 400 homes, but now it’s having a larger impact and reaping another harvest altogether thanks to the hardworking honeybees–and a solar farm made just for them. The 13-acre Black Bear Solar site is now home to roughly 180,000 bees altogether, living in four different hives. This year, they expect to harvest about 20 pounds of honey, with about 60 to 80 pounds left for the hives so that the bees can survive Virginia’s winter.
Pollen is locally abundant because of Dominion Energy’s requirement for a percentage of their seed mix be pollinator friendly, which feeds the bees. At Black Bear Solar, there is a traditional turf mix planted under the panels which is surrounded by a big variety of native pollinator plants including white clover, little bluestem, black-eyed susan, eastern columbine, and lance leaf coreopsis. Shown by research from the U.S. Conservation Resource Program, the bees will also range to nearby gardens and farms, even increasing pollination rates of soybean fields nearby.
Black Bear Solar is a honeybee oasis and an agrivoltaics project demonstrating Dominion Energy’s commitment to innovation and stewardship, and powerful evidence helping to prove that solar, flora and fauna can live in harmony and mutual benefit.
Honeysuckle Solar
188MW Biodiverse Solar Farm in Indiana
Honeysuckle Solar is a landmark 188-megawatt project by Lightsource bp located in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Completed in October 2024, the project showcases what’s possible when clean energy, ecological restoration, and rural development align. From its inception, Honeysuckle Solar has embodied a local-first approach — 85% of construction labor was sourced from the area, and its long-term operation will deliver a $30 million boost to local schools and public services without raising taxes. Through a power purchase agreement with Google, the project is helping anchor economic growth in the region, including Google’s new $2 billion data center in Fort Wayne.
What makes Honeysuckle Solar a standout ecosystem is its deliberate, layered approach to biodiversity and land stewardship. In partnership with the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund, the project established 900 acres of native Indiana vegetation, transforming a utility-scale solar site into a haven for pollinators and wildlife. Two custom seed mixes — including a grazing-friendly blend and a dense 50-species pollinator meadow — exceed the state’s habitat planning scorecard standards. These habitats offer long-term support for at-risk pollinators while improving soil health and resilience.
Adding even more life to the landscape, a father-son farming duo graze nearly 1,000 sheep beneath the solar panels. This contract grazing arrangement helps maintain vegetation while supporting a family-owned livestock business. The project also prioritizes sustainability beyond energy generation — 88% of construction waste was diverted from landfills, and all solar panels are committed to full recycling at end-of-life.
Honeysuckle Solar offers a powerful model for how large-scale solar can support biodiversity, clean energy goals, and local livelihoods all at once.
Learn more about this project at the links below.
Mockingbird Solar
Prairie conservation meets solar development in a rare tallgrass ecosystem in Texas
The Mockingbird Solar Center, developed by Ørsted in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Texas, demonstrates how renewable energy projects can align with ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, and community benefit. Located in Lamar County, Texas, this large-scale solar initiative not only generates 468 MW of clean power—enough to serve more than 83,000 homes—but also protects a priceless natural asset: 953 acres of Silveus’ dropseed prairie, one of the rarest and most threatened native grassland types in the state. This preserved land, now the Smiley Meadow Preserve, will be used both as a biodiversity refuge and as a seed source for restoring prairie vegetation under and around the solar panels.
What makes this project exceptional is its long-term, holistic vision. The site serves as a model for integrating utility-scale solar with habitat protection, showing that land can be managed for both energy and ecology. The collaboration between Ørsted and TNC is especially notable: TNC will actively advise on land stewardship strategies, ensuring restoration and management practices that benefit pollinators, native flora, and wildlife. The benefits also reach into the local economy, with more than 200 construction jobs, ongoing maintenance work, and over $75 million projected in economic contributions to Lamar County over the project’s lifetime—including critical funding for local school districts.
Mockingbird is part of Ørsted’s broader commitment to achieving a net positive biodiversity impact across all projects by 2030. This project sets a precedent for integrating biodiversity considerations into renewable energy initiatives globally. The Mockingbird Solar Center is a model project that demonstrates how renewable energy development can go hand-in-hand with environmental stewardship and community enhancement. It’s a powerful example of how we can meet our energy needs while preserving natural habitats and supporting local economies.
Shortgrass Ecovoltaic Research Facility (SERF)
Water-limited grasslands near Nunn, Colorado
At the intersection of solar innovation and native grassland science stands the Shortgrass Ecovoltaic Research Facility (SERF) — a first-of-its-kind research site dedicated to understanding how utility-scale solar development can be integrated with semi-arid grassland ecosystems.
Led by ecologists Dr. Alan Knapp and Dr. Matthew Sturchio of Colorado State University, SERF is the newest site in a multi-year research effort investigating how photovoltaic infrastructure affects plant productivity, soil function, water dynamics, and overall ecosystem resilience in arid regions. Built with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the SCAPES project, SERF is located in the shortgrass prairie near Nunn, Colorado — an ecosystem defined by limited rainfall, native species, and increasing land use pressures.
This facility builds on earlier findings from Jack’s Solar Garden, where Knapp and Sturchio discovered that grasses shaded by solar panels consistently outperformed those in full sun during dry years. Their research demonstrated how solar infrastructure can create microclimates that reduce plant stress, retain moisture, and enhance productivity when water is scarce.
With SERF, the team is expanding this research into more ecologically complex and water-limited environments. The facility will support long-term experiments that directly inform sustainable grazing, biodiversity management, and solar siting decisions across the region.
With private tours available through Professor Knapp and full-scale research operations beginning in 2025, SERF marks a pivotal move toward solar development that actively supports ecosystem health and land stewardship.
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