I thought I was doing the planet a favor by ditching my gas-powered lawnmower for an electric one a few years ago, but Volkswagen just one-upped me in the most adorable way possible. Volkswagen’s manufacturing plant in Poland uses a photovoltaic farm (which is a fancy pants way of saying solar farm) to provide much of its electricity. Those solar panels sit on a big grass field, and grass fields require lawn maintenance. Rather than use electric lawn mowers and string trimmers, Volkswagen’s solar farm partner figured it could take things one step further. Now it uses sheep.
The company that built and manages VW’s 18.3 MW solar farm is Quanta Energy, so it’s the company that’s actually replacing mowers with a flock of 100 sheep. Not only does switching to sheep power reduce VW’s carbon footprint, it helps to promote biodiversity and gives researchers a change to study how solar farms affect wildlife.
Photo by: Quanta Energy
“Today, the photovoltaic farm delivers much more than green electricity. It has also become a place where we support biodiversity, local agriculture and scientific research. The sheep grazing project demonstrates that modern industry can work in harmony with nature,” says Marzena Pillich-Grońska, Director of the Volkswagen Poznań plant.
The sheep will be there until autumn, under the supervision of experienced breeders, and they’ll mow the lawn for VW. It helps ease the workload, as now the lawn maintenance gets another 100 helpers. The sheep will graze freely and munch the tall grass all around, and even underneath, the panels. They even seem to be happy in their new environment.
Photo by: Quanta Energy
“The animals have adapted very well to their new environment. We can clearly see that the flock feels safe — the sheep naturally split into smaller groups and graze calmly in different parts of the solar farm. This is the best evidence that they have adapted well to these conditions, because a flock that feels threatened always stays together,” said Justyna Nowak-Gajek, owner of the flock.
Everyone wins, here. VW lowers its carbon footprint, Quanta Energy gets to maintain the lawn with adorable sheep instead of lawnmowers that need their own maintenance, and the sheep get a shady field and free lunch.