NC Solar Farms Do Double Duty Helping Pollinators
RALEIGH, N.C. — The growing number of solar farms in North Carolina require large tracts of land, and the areas around the solar panels must be free of tall vegetation. Now some local solar companies have found a way to not only produce energy, but also use the land to host pollen-producing plants for bees and other beneficial insects critical to agriculture.
Kathryn Parker, vegetation construction manager with Strata Solar of Raleigh, said at first, it was hard to imagine how solar farms and native plants could coexist.
“They didn't seem like natural partners for that inside-the-fence area,” Parker said. “They did seem like really good candidates for replacing the turf grasses that were being planted outside of the facility.”
