r/UpliftingNews • u/ArgentineBeauty • 4h ago

Two Minnesota solar farms planted native grasses and wildflowers beneath their panels. Five years later, flowering plant species had increased sevenfold, native bee numbers more than 20 fold and total insect numbers had tripled, while more bees were also visiting nearby soybean fields.

https://www.ecoticias.com/en/two-minnesota-solar-farms-turned-the-ground-beneath-their-panels-into-habitat-and-native-bee-abundance-rose-more-than-20-fold/36680/
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u/MyCoffeeIsCold 3h ago

Solar is great and has a place in our energy portfolio in the right locations.

We have had proposals to clear cut 60-70 acres of FOREST for solar projects here in New York. One of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

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u/Krillin113 3h ago

Solar needs to be put on agricultural land

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u/sl33ksnypr 3h ago

And more specifically, land that is used to farm corn used for ethanol. I don't think we should mess with our food crops, but maybe we could just make less corn ethanol for cars?

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u/fearless-fossa 2h ago

There are plenty of plants that thrive under solar panels because they need some shadow to avoid overheating, putting solar above them increases yield.

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u/Gladiateher 2h ago

Plus fish hatcheries, reservoirs, desert and badlands areas, fallow grasslands, parking lots, Walmarts(lol) and soooo much more!

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u/LostWoodsInTheField 1h ago

There are plenty of plants that thrive under solar panels because they need some shadow to avoid overheating, putting solar above them increases yield.

Not a single solar panel farm in my area could support actual crop harvesting / planting without increasing costs way way above recooping levels. Are there solar farms that can be 15 feet off of the ground for half an acre + so far equipment could work 'around' them?

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u/cjsv7657 1h ago

But the increased cost of labor will decrease the profits so much it wont be worth it. It will work for things like cranberries where you just flood the bogs to pick them but not crops that are machine harvested. Like pretty much everything else that can be grown in shade.