UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Niko Kochendoerfer, a postdoctoral fellow in animal sciences at Cornell University, will deliver the talk "Effect of sheep stocking rate on ecosystem parameters in ground-mounted solar arrays " at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place via Zoom. 

Both solar energy developers and farmers need land in order to operate. In 2019 New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act set in motion goals to have 70% of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by the year 2030. For this to be a reality, 21.6 GW of utility scale solar will need to be installed on up to 129,600 acres of land. It is projected that the sheep industry could grow significantly alongside the renewable energy industry if many sites are grazed. In response, a transdisciplinary team of researchers at Cornell University launched the Solar Grazing Project to investigate optimal sheep grazing management around ground-mounted solar arrays to avoid panel shading.

Kochendoerfer’s talk is part of the fall 2022 EESI EarthTalks series, “Exploring the Multiple Dimensions of Solar Energy.” Using both a local and global scope, the series addresses the latest perspectives on policies, environmental management, and the technological advancements towards the dual use, and social and cultural implications of solar energy. 

The EESI EarthTalks series is supported by Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. Visit the fall 2022 website to learn more.