Fresh Energy recently gathered with friends and colleagues at 56 Brewing to honor and celebrate an Emmy® Award for “Pollinator-Friendly Solar,” a consumer feature television segment on Prairie Sportsman, one of Granite Falls-based Pioneer PBS’ flagship local programs.
Rob Davis
It’s bee-autiful! Fresh Energy teams up with ULTA and IT Cosmetics to help save the bees
Fresh Energy pairs up with a major beauty retailer to help save the bees. Get all the glamorous details!
Best practices for solar farm apiaries
Beekeepers: get all the details about managing hives outside the fence of pollinator-friendly solar arrays.
Minnesota leads on solar for pollinators and crops
2016 was the first year of Minnesota’s solar bloom — but there’s plenty more to come. While even more solar sites are planned to be built in the years ahead, tens of millions of native flowers and short-growing meadow grasses will be taking root under and around the panels. Look for black-eyed susans to develop faster than the rest, followed by purple prairie clover, partridge pea, butterfly weed, and more.
Electric Cooperatives Connecting Pollinator Conservation and Clean Energy
“Butterflies, birds, and bees find a haven at Connexus” proclaimed the email recently sent to all members of Connexus Energy, Minnesota’s largest customer-owned electric cooperative. Connexus’ community solar garden hasn’t just been popular with its members — the site is also benefitting Minnesota’s bumblebees, honeybees, and foraging song birds — and is on the leading edge of a rapidly growing trend.
188-2: Minnesota Sets Standard for Land Use on Solar Sites
Authored by agriculture leaders, a new law sends a clear signal to the solar industry regarding a preferred practice for use of land on solar sites. State-wide standard will meaningfully help Minnesota’s bees, monarchs, pheasants, and songbirds, by providing abundant, high-quality foraging habitat on solar sites.
