Sunlight leads to new harvest

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Solar arrays gather energy from sunlight as market-garden plants grow beneath them.

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Stacie Peterson smiles while working with beekeepers at an agri-solar site at Lake Pulaski, Minnesota.

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Bees swarm as a beekeeper checks a hive in an apiary collocated with solar arrays.

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Sheep eye visitors while solar arrays in their pasture gather energy from sunlight. Collocation of solar arrays and pasture can provide farms with a new crop – electricity.

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Produce ripens under solar arrays near the end of the growing season. Most crops are limited to a growing season but sunlight may be harvested for electricity year-round.

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Lush vines spread beneath and between solar arrays as sunlight is converted to electricity and vegetables in the same space.

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A melon ripens near a solar array. Collocation of solar-energy production and agriculture can preserve farmland.

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A flock of sheep enjoy shade under a solar array in a pasture. Shade provided by solar arrays can improve the health of livestock and farmworkers.

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A solar array collects energy from sunlight at North Wind Organic Farm near Bayfield, Wisconsin. The farm uses an off-grid system.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Solar arrays harvest sunlight next to a pasture at a grass-fed-beef operation near Ashland, Wisconsin. Many farmers start with small solar-generation systems as they learn how to turn sunlight into electricity. Even modest solar systems improve energy resiliency by providing power for farm operations.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

An Allis-Chalmers tractor retrofitted with batteries and a solar array harvests and stores energy from sunlight at North Wind Organic Farm near Bayfield, Wisconsin.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

An electric vehicle gathers energy from sunlight with a solar array mounted on the cab roof at North Wind Organic Farm near Bayfield, Wisconsin. The farm has operated for decades off the grid, generating its own electricity from sunlight.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Jason Maloney and Red

Jason Maloney For Agri-View

Farmers know all about harvesting sunlight. Every farmer uses sunlight to produce crops, stock and value-added products. But in recent decades it’s become possible to harvest sunlight in a new way.

Jason Maloney is an “elderly” farm boy from Marinette County, Wisconsin. He’s a retired educator, a retired soldier and a lifelong Wisconsin resident. He lives on the shore of Lake Superior with his wife, Cindy Dillenschneider, and Red, a sturdy loyal Australian Shepherd.