Solar sheep
14 Jan 2026
2 min read
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The Guardian have an article today looking at the experience of some shepherds grazing their flocks under and around solar panels.
It is an interesting combination of continued farming activities on land that might otherwise sit dormant beneath solar panels. A physical example of layering various uses of land.
The dual use of the land highlights many of the conundrums of solar sites.
Some argue that productive farmland should not be blighted by having put solar on it.
Others would say that with so many farmers struggling to make a profit, the dual use of solar and grazing helps support diversified farming businesses. It's a physical layering in a world more used to layering of farming activities alongside environmental schemes or subject to BNG covenants.
The solar operator avoids the cost of cutting the grass around the panels whilst the grazier secures extra land - a potential win-win for both.
Others might see it as greenwashing to appease locals who may otherwise be against solar developments near them, but with the addition of fluffy sheep may be more amenable.
Dual use like this may not fix some of the structural issues facing the rural economy, but for some it will offer additional liquidity to support existing businesses or opportunities for new farmers without land to get their first step on the farming ladder.
Solar grazing will not fix British farming. It won’t lower land prices, reverse climate change or make supermarkets pay more for lamb. But for farmers locked out of land, it offers something increasingly rare: a way in.