Two new guests explored the Solar Farm at Elon University’s Loy Farm on Nov. 9. Penelope and Snowflake are two sheep that graze the grass underneath the solar panels to make the soil healthy for planting, according to Elon senior Ava Litzinger.
The sheep are part of a wider project, led by an Elon environmental studies senior seminar called “Graze the Grid.” Litzinger is in the class and said the class is separated into different focus groups, such as clean energy in sustainable business practices.
The main focus of “Graze the Grid” was agrivoltaics — the combination of solar energy and agriculture.
The event Nov. 9 started with time for check-in and for attendees to check out tables, win prizes and enjoy apple cider and ice cream.
After check-in, attendees watched a demonstration from the co-owner of Little Cedar Farm, Cheryl Khoury. She talked about how to properly raise sheep, taking care of them after lambing and how Little Cedar farm utilizes solar panels. At the end of her talk, she was open to questions. One participant asked Khoury what her favorite part of having sheep was.
“I just love watching them,” Khoury said. “It's a pastoral scene, and it's interesting to watch their pattern of grazing. They'll go out and then they come around, and then they'll go out again and go around the other way. Watching the dogs take care of them is pretty interesting.”
Khoury said the farm wanted to demonstrate that sheep will not destroy solar panels.
“They're not loud,” Khoury said. “They’re very nice. They will eat the grass, keep it trimmed down, and they're not a noise nuisance.”
Two sheep, Penelope and Snowflake, graze the grass during a demonstration from Little Cedar Farm on Nov. 9 at Loy Farm. They were a part of an Elon environmental studies senior seminar project called "Graze the Grid."
Elon’s Office of Sustainability; Little Cedar Farm; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Headwater Energy were partners for “Graze the Grid.”
Elon senior Adam Whalen also worked on the “Graze the Grid.” He said the group’s first idea — expanding solar around Elon’s campus — was shut down. They then decided to focus on implementing agrivoltaics around campus.
Whalen said his job in the group was to look into the policies and economics of agrivoltaics, which also meant communicating with the town of Elon about the event.
A town of Elon ordinance created March 25, 2024, prohibits keeping cattle, sheep, goats, horses or swine within town limits, except for animals used for therapeutic purposes. Whalen said his group found loopholes around the ordinance.
“We're trying to work at a variance to kind of pass here, where it would allow for a one-year application of livestock, only sheep out of this location specifically, instead of going through the whole rezoning process to get this moved from an educational facility into an agricultural zone,” Whalen said.
Litzinger said the sheep’s duty demonstrated at the event is very helpful for the growth of fruits and vegetables.
“There's minimal water usage,” Litzinger said. “The shade is perfect for them. There's just a lot of different reasons why it's good. And the sheep are just like a fun way to add to it.”
Litzinger said the outcome of the event was rewarding.
“This is something that my group cares so much about, like the Environmental Studies department, and sometimes I feel like it can take kind of like a back burner for the rest of the university, so to see that people showed up is awesome,” Litzinger said.
Charlotte Pfabe contributed to the reporting of this story.