#solarfields — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #solarfields, aggregated by home.social.
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More of this, please...!
#Solar companies partnering with #MaineFarmers for land management
by Jamie Azulay, Jul 28, 2026
#HollisME - "#Nexamp, a #RenewableEnergy company with several solar farms in Maine, is working with local farmers to manage the land beneath its panels. In Hollis, Jonathan Tibbetts was contracted to bring his flock of about 40 #sheep to an approximately 20-acre field.
" 'Basically, what their job is, is to keep the grass below the panels,' Tibbetts said. 'When we leave, we don’t necessarily want it to look like a lawn, but we want the vegetation managed.'
"Nexamp leases the land, and it prefers to avoid heavy machinery powered by #FossilFuels to maintain it.
" 'It’s kind of a no-brainer. It’s more #sustainable. The costs are good,' said Keith Hevenor, Nexamp's communication manager. 'It’s safer in a lot of ways than running mechanical mowers through #SolarFields where you can kick up a rock or do some sort of damage.'
"Nexamp is grazing 2,000 acres across sites in the United States. Eighty sites, with a combined 600 acres, are being grazed in Maine. These partnerships keep operations environmentally friendly while also supporting #LocalAgriculture.
" 'Land access for farming is getting harder and harder for every farmer,' Tibbetts said.
"Tibbetts was running out of space on his farm, but now his business is growing with access to the Nexamp field.
" 'I can go out and put sheep on solar and make an income,' he said. 'To me, that’s still agriculture. It’s just not what people are used to.'
"The partnerships reflect a new age of agriculture, which some farmers are adjusting to while others are struggling to accept the changes.
" 'Solar is controversial, but the reality of it is, it’s here,' Tibbetts said.
"Hevenor hopes the critics who say solar companies are stealing farmland eventually come around. He argues the company is only borrowing these fields temporarily.
"State-mandated decommissioning plans allow the land to return to its previous use if that is what the property owner chooses to do.
" 'If you come in here and build an #AmazonWarehouse or a #Datacenter or a neighborhood, it’s permanently gone,' Hevenor said.
"Hevenor said many of the landowners Nexamp leases from are farmers themselves.
" 'I can see how somebody in their 70s who’s just trying to keep the farm and is looking for some type of income, who isn’t able to farm the way they were 20 years ago, it’s an avenue for them to keep their farm,' Tibbetts said.
"Nexamp has fields out of state being grazed by pigs and cattle. Hevenor said that could be a possibility in Maine in the near future."
Watch video:
https://www.wmtw.com/article/solar-companies-maine-land-management-livestock-farmers/73178986#SolarPunkSunday #MaineFarms #SolarEnergy #RenewablesNow #Agrovoltaics
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More of this, please...!
#Solar companies partnering with #MaineFarmers for land management
by Jamie Azulay, Jul 28, 2026
#HollisME - "#Nexamp, a #RenewableEnergy company with several solar farms in Maine, is working with local farmers to manage the land beneath its panels. In Hollis, Jonathan Tibbetts was contracted to bring his flock of about 40 #sheep to an approximately 20-acre field.
" 'Basically, what their job is, is to keep the grass below the panels,' Tibbetts said. 'When we leave, we don’t necessarily want it to look like a lawn, but we want the vegetation managed.'
"Nexamp leases the land, and it prefers to avoid heavy machinery powered by #FossilFuels to maintain it.
" 'It’s kind of a no-brainer. It’s more #sustainable. The costs are good,' said Keith Hevenor, Nexamp's communication manager. 'It’s safer in a lot of ways than running mechanical mowers through #SolarFields where you can kick up a rock or do some sort of damage.'
"Nexamp is grazing 2,000 acres across sites in the United States. Eighty sites, with a combined 600 acres, are being grazed in Maine. These partnerships keep operations environmentally friendly while also supporting #LocalAgriculture.
" 'Land access for farming is getting harder and harder for every farmer,' Tibbetts said.
"Tibbetts was running out of space on his farm, but now his business is growing with access to the Nexamp field.
" 'I can go out and put sheep on solar and make an income,' he said. 'To me, that’s still agriculture. It’s just not what people are used to.'
"The partnerships reflect a new age of agriculture, which some farmers are adjusting to while others are struggling to accept the changes.
" 'Solar is controversial, but the reality of it is, it’s here,' Tibbetts said.
"Hevenor hopes the critics who say solar companies are stealing farmland eventually come around. He argues the company is only borrowing these fields temporarily.
"State-mandated decommissioning plans allow the land to return to its previous use if that is what the property owner chooses to do.
" 'If you come in here and build an #AmazonWarehouse or a #Datacenter or a neighborhood, it’s permanently gone,' Hevenor said.
"Hevenor said many of the landowners Nexamp leases from are farmers themselves.
" 'I can see how somebody in their 70s who’s just trying to keep the farm and is looking for some type of income, who isn’t able to farm the way they were 20 years ago, it’s an avenue for them to keep their farm,' Tibbetts said.
"Nexamp has fields out of state being grazed by pigs and cattle. Hevenor said that could be a possibility in Maine in the near future."
Watch video:
https://www.wmtw.com/article/solar-companies-maine-land-management-livestock-farmers/73178986#SolarPunkSunday #MaineFarms #SolarEnergy #RenewablesNow #Agrovoltaics
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Solar Fields' 'Red', 'Green' and 'Blue' return as standalone double vinyl #SolarFields
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🔴 LIVE NOW ON VORTEX
📻 Vortex Night 🚀 (Krautrock & space rock)
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🎵 Solar Fields - Forgiveness▶️ Écouter / Listen : VorteX [Radio]
https://lesonduvortex.net💬 Join us on Discord:
https://discord.gg/d82hJZBeDE -
@Sykonee https://solarfields.bandcamp.com/album/movements
#SolarFields Movements, released 8. Jan. 2009 -
In the shadow of a #nuclear plant, #PrairieIsland celebrates steps toward a green future
The Tribal Nation is about two years into an effort to cut its members’ energy costs with a solar field and other eco-friendly projects.
By Gustav DeMars, October 1, 2023
"Prairie island first contacted legislators in 2018 to get support for the project, Johnson said. It wasn’t until two years later in 2020 that Governor Tim Walz signed legislation greenlighting the project.
"The Prairie Island Indian Community reservation, which lies along the Mississippi and Vermillion rivers in and adjacent to Red Wing in southeastern Minnesota, is home to descendants of the Mdewakanton Band of Eastern Dakota.
"Johnson’s family had no electricity or running water until 1968, when the federal government built 12 homes in the community. Tribal members now live in about 150 homes. The reservation operates the Treasure Island Casino, which has operated since the 1980s.
"As the community has grown, so has the need for energy. Now built atop what was once an unused pile of sand dredged from the Mississippi is a mostly complete 5.4-megawatt field of #solar panels that Prairie Island leaders hope will be a step toward what they call 'energy sovereignty.'
"The solar field is not currently in operation; it’s expected to be up and running in early 2024.
"Energy has long been a topic of conversation for Prairie Island’s community, which sits in the shadow of one of Minnesota’s two nuclear power plants. In 1973, the federal government authorized construction of the facility less than a mile from the reservation.
"Over the years, many Prairie Island tribal members have voiced dismay that the plant and #NuclearWaste storage are so close to their reservation. In March, Xcel Energy agreed to increase its annual payment to the community from $2.5 million to $10 million to compensate it for storing spent nuclear waste near its land."
#RenewablesNow #PrairieIslandIndianCommunity #EnergySovereignty #SolarFields #NoNukes #NoNewNukes
Full article:
https://sahanjournal.com/climate-environment/prairie-island-indian-community-celebrates-green-future/ -
In the shadow of a #nuclear plant, #PrairieIsland celebrates steps toward a green future
The Tribal Nation is about two years into an effort to cut its members’ energy costs with a solar field and other eco-friendly projects.
By Gustav DeMars, October 1, 2023
"Prairie island first contacted legislators in 2018 to get support for the project, Johnson said. It wasn’t until two years later in 2020 that Governor Tim Walz signed legislation greenlighting the project.
"The Prairie Island Indian Community reservation, which lies along the Mississippi and Vermillion rivers in and adjacent to Red Wing in southeastern Minnesota, is home to descendants of the Mdewakanton Band of Eastern Dakota.
"Johnson’s family had no electricity or running water until 1968, when the federal government built 12 homes in the community. Tribal members now live in about 150 homes. The reservation operates the Treasure Island Casino, which has operated since the 1980s.
"As the community has grown, so has the need for energy. Now built atop what was once an unused pile of sand dredged from the Mississippi is a mostly complete 5.4-megawatt field of #solar panels that Prairie Island leaders hope will be a step toward what they call 'energy sovereignty.'
"The solar field is not currently in operation; it’s expected to be up and running in early 2024.
"Energy has long been a topic of conversation for Prairie Island’s community, which sits in the shadow of one of Minnesota’s two nuclear power plants. In 1973, the federal government authorized construction of the facility less than a mile from the reservation.
"Over the years, many Prairie Island tribal members have voiced dismay that the plant and #NuclearWaste storage are so close to their reservation. In March, Xcel Energy agreed to increase its annual payment to the community from $2.5 million to $10 million to compensate it for storing spent nuclear waste near its land."
#RenewablesNow #PrairieIslandIndianCommunity #EnergySovereignty #SolarFields #NoNukes #NoNewNukes
Full article:
https://sahanjournal.com/climate-environment/prairie-island-indian-community-celebrates-green-future/