Pilot project uses sheep to keep the grass neat at Sarnia solar farm

Heather Wright/The Independent

Enbridge has some new workers at the Blackwell Sideroad Solar operation.

About 250 sheep are happily munching around the rows of solar panels which produce 80 megawatts of electricity each day to power up to 16,000 homes.

The idea came from Camlachie-area sheep farmers Brent and Meika Pelleboer. The couple started out as beef producers eight years ago. Three years ago they switched to sheep since Mieka wanted to be more involved in the farm while Brent was at his full-time job at Imperial. Sheep were easier to handle than cattle and, Mieka says, the time was right. Brent researched the market and found demand for lamb in Ontario is growing with immigration from countries which use lamb extensively.

So, the couple purchased a herd of Rideau sheep and put them out to pasture on their farm.

Then, the Pelleboers found some sheep producers in Ottawa and Alberta were grazing their animals at solar farms. So, they approached Enbridge to see if the company would consider a pilot project at the Blackwell Sideroad site.

Site Supervisor Ian Robertson was open to the idea. For years, Enbridge has used lawnmowers to keep the grass from growing high enough to shade the solar panels. Four times a year, employees would use five large mowers and take a week to cut the 80-acre site. Sometimes, the panels would be damaged, particularly if the mower hit a rut. Robertson adds when the weather was wet, the mowers weren’t able to keep the grasses in check.

“We have so much moisture at our site too. Sheep aren’t affected by moisture, so they can go down these rows and just eat, which is huge for us, because they’ll work where have overgrowth or shading, whereas a tractor isn’t going to be able to go down there until it’s dry enough for that vehicle to make it down there, and then ruts in the ground causes it to hop (causing) broken panels.”

Robertson worked with the Pelleboers to come up with 12 quadrants which the sheep rotate through. The shepherds use an electrified rope fence to surround the quadrant and turn the 250 fuzzy lawnmowers out to pasture. They munch away at the clover and grasses for four or five days before the Pelleboers move them to another quadrant for fresh grass.

And moving all those sheep is not as difficult as you might think, according to Mieka.

“These gates connect with just string and clips. So, when they see me go up and start untying the string, they’ll all come to the gate and they’ll be lined up, and I’ll open the open the net fence, and it’ll be connected to the next piece, and they’ll just run right through,” says Mieka. “They’re trained to do that. They’re used to being out on pasture at our home farm with us, so when we brought them here, they already knew the drill. We don’t have to chase them through. We don’t have to use herding dogs or anything.”

The sheep stay on the Enbridge property night and day, surrounded by the electric rope fence and protected by two dogs, Ned, who keeps his eyes peeled for anything heading toward the herd, and Ivy, who settles in among the sheep.

While it may seem strange to have sheep wandering around electrified solar panels, Mieka says it works out great. “They don’t even bother nibbling the cords or anything like that. They just don’t seem to really worry too much about that. They’re here to graze.

“They have the grass and they’re happy.”

Robertson says its amazing to watch the animals at work. “They’re pretty much a workhorse. That’s their job, right? They keep their head down and keep eating, which is amazing.”

Mieka says the rows of solar panels become part of their habitat. “They do lay underneath the panels when it is sunny, and they get shade from that…when the sun is out and it’s hot, they love going under the panels.”

Brent Pelleboer is happy with the pilot project so far. He says it is possible because of the added pasture land at Enbridge, they will be able to grow the size of their herd over time.

When the Ontario government first promoted the use of solar panels for energy generation, one of the biggest concerns was projects like the one on Blackwell Sideroad would take valuable farmland out of production. Brent Pelleboer says 13 years later, he’s glad to return the land to its original use.

“It’s bringing back agriculture to this land, like bringing farmland basically back into production, while still producing solar energy.”