Woolly lawnmowers: The huge solar farm that hosts 2,000 sheep

The 128MW Numurkah Solar Farm in the north of Victoria has traded in ride-on lawn mowers for 2,000 woolly living lawnmowers, proving once again the value of sustainable agrisolar projects.

Around 2,000 sheep call the 1,200-acre Numurkah Solar Farm their home, grazing underneath the solar panels to manage the vegetation which would otherwise need to be tended to by humans – a process which can take up to seven weeks to mow the entire solar farm.

The project was designed and built by Australian services group Downer, who now also maintains the site and coordinates with Agriculture Victoria.

It is well known that agrisolar projects such as Numurkah provide a range of benefits to community and operator alike, but this is the first time we have seen flocks of such numbers.

The local community around Numurkah benefits from zero-fee grazing for farmers, while owner and operator Neoen benefits from reduced machine operation and purchasing costs. The fire risk from overgrown vegetation is also mitigated by the woolly site crew who ensure the solar farm doesn’t become overgrown.

“Agrisolar is just one way we are working collaboratively with our customers to develop and deliver sustainable solutions across the energy sector,” said Paul O’Bryan, Numurkah Solar Farm site manager, is quoted as saying.

The Numurkah Solar Farm also worked with the local community to establish a water pipeline to the solar farm which provides a ready supply of water to both the onsite firefighting tanks as well as the watering troughs for the sheep.

This pipeline is now also used by the solar farm’s neighbours for sweetening bore water for irrigation.