Constructed in 2016, the 62 MW Marshall Solar Energy Project is located on 355 acres of agricultural land in Lyon County, three miles east of Marshall, Minnesota. Partly in response to several visual renderings of the project showing acres of closely mowed suburban-style turfgrass, the proposed project received little support and drew active pushback from residents who were concerned about the loss of prime farmland and how it could affect their property values.
Center for Pollinators in Energy
600 acres and 100 MW of pollinator-friendly solar
In 2015, ENGIE Distributed Solar launched a program to provide enhanced ecosystem service benefits from the ground cover under and around its solar arrays on arable soils. Today, the company has installed over 100 MW of pollinator-friendly solar projects, spanning over 600 acres across half a dozen states.
Case Study: The 9.9 MW Solar Project in Science Magazine
The 9.9 MW Eagle Point pollinator-friendly solar project is located on 41 acres of agricultural land. Read about it!
Case Study: 907 acres of pollinator-friendly solar
Enel Green Power’s Aurora Solar project is one of the state’s first large-scale solar developments, having beat out gas on price when the project was approved in 2014. Completed in 2017, the project consists of 16 pollinator-friendly sites spread across central and southern Minnesota. The locations utilize a variety of stewardship practices, including flowering ground cover for bees and birds, low-growing grass meadows, sheep grazing, and adjacent honey bee hives.
Solar Farm Field Days
Many of Minnesota’s pollinator-friendly solar arrays are in full bloom right now. Check out photos from Rob’s three-day field trip where he captured the best of solar bees, blooms, and butterflies.
Drs. Katharine Hayhoe & Marla Spivak with Fresh Energy on PV Solar, Pollinators
Join nationally leading experts Dr. Marla Spivak, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, and Rob Davis for an in-depth discussion on their work around the global climate crisis, clean energy, and pollinator health.