Graphic by George Danby, Bangor Daily News
By Toby Whitman, Whitman’s Hidden Meadow Farm
Farmers have always used the sun to grow things. At our farm in West Paris, my family has used the sun to grow food for ourselves and for the animals we raise — cattle, sheep, goats, oxen and draft horses, to name a few. The sun has helped us feed and support three generations of Whitmans on this land, and, in a few months, it will help us feed the fourth generation when our grandson is born.
And as we get ready to welcome this next generation, our farm is using the sun in a whole new way to help provide for our family. We’ve converted about 10 acres of pasture to host a community solar power array that will provide clean, renewable power to our neighbors in the area.
A new law passed last year opened the door for these community solar projects, and it has had a big impact. People who can’t have solar panels on their own property can now join together to be part of a community solar project, and participate in the benefits of clean and affordable solar power. And this new program has given Maine farmers a unique opportunity to stabilize our incomes and preserve our family farms.
The Farmer’s Guide to Going Solar (U,S. Department of Energy)
For us, the decision to be part of this program and host a community solar project was a no-brainer. Our land can accommodate a substantial solar array, enough to provide electricity to about 500 households in our area. While the solar farm is providing clean energy to our community, our sheep will keep grazing in the same fields.
We’re still using this land to make a living, just in a different way than we’re used to. Instead of selling bales of hay to help pay the bills, we’re harvesting clean electricity.
Farmers diversify all the time. A beef farmer might start raising pigs. A dairy farmer might start growing corn. We adjust to what makes the most sense to support our families. And that’s exactly what Maine farmers are doing when we use our land to harvest power from the sun.
