It started as a trickle and now the floodgates are open. Solar arrays that once sat on barren ground are now festooned with plants that attract bees, birds, and butterflies. Even the US Energy Department is getting into the act. With that in mind, let’s take a look at four newly minted solar power plants that have built-in benefits for pollinators, too. The field of agrivoltaics is blowing up with four significant new projects that combine solar panels and pollinator-friendly plants (photo courtesy of Green Lantern via Global Newswire). 1. Beauty Co. Aims For Carbon-Positivity With Solar Panels The natural hair care company Aveda already keeps beehives on its Blaine campus in Minnesota, and a new 3.6 acre, 900 kilowatt array of solar panels will enable it to add more hives because it is planted with pollinator-friendly plants, not gravel or ground cover. If that sounds like having your solar cake and eating it, too, it is. The new array is also part of the company’s plans for generating more energy than it consumes . Aveda was one of the first leading US manufacturers to dip into wind power, and the new foray into the solar + pollinator field […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute
