"Sheep on solar panels": China showed Europe how it should be

China continues to carry out large-scale projects for the construction of solar power plants, which can provide more than just electricity. One high-altitude lifeless plateau was turned into a pasture.

"On a high-altitude plateau that was once the most prone to wind erosion area of the upper Yellow River, one of the world's largest solar parks demonstrates how photovoltaic infrastructure can simultaneously serve as pastures," reports Chinese broadcaster CGTN.

Earlier in Talatan district in Hainan Prefecture, winds blew at a steady speed of 62 to 74 kilometers per hour for more than two months a year. As a result, sand and gravel advanced by 10 meters per year.

"The Mongolian word talatan means "vast pastures," but for decades this area has been barren, with rare patches of dry grass making their way through the sand. Today, millions of photovoltaic panels on an area of 600 square kilometers act as a wind barrier, reducing wind speed on the surface and reducing moisture evaporation. This allowed the grass to recover under the panels. According to local forest and pasture lands, the annual grass harvest has reached 2.6 tons per hectare — enough feed for 100,000 sheep," CGTN said.

Initially, it was planned only to build a solar power plant. However, tall grass appeared, which created a new problem. Then the local authorities announced the "solar—powered sheep" model - shepherds were allowed to drive their flocks into the park to graze under the panels from June to October each year.

"Sheep manure fertilizes the soil, stimulating grass growth in a self-sustaining ecological cycle. Village collective cooperatives are engaged in grazing on the basis of agreements with solar companies. Each of the 56 specially designated plots contains a maximum of 400 sheep with electronic ear tags to prevent overgrazing and ensure that the model meets the permissible load on the ground," the Chinese broadcaster reports.

According to her, the results are tangible. The solar park now houses 32 ecologically clean pastures created with the help of solar panels, and contains more than 20,000 sheep in 18 villages.

"Shepherd Duo, who used to walk 10 kilometers in search of scarce food, now earns almost 100,000 yuan (about $ 14,000) a year on sheep raised with solar panels. Rural cooperatives bring in an average of 14.57 million yuan per year," CGTN added.