Putting solar panels on a farm: what to size and where

What can solar power on a farm?

Agricultural electricity use on a farm is often large and seasonal, which suits solar in some cases and not in others. Common uses include ventilation and lighting in barns, milking and cooling equipment, grain dryers and augers, irrigation pumps, shop tools and the farmhouse. Remote loads, such as livestock watering far from the yard, can run from a small off-grid system without a long power line. See off-grid solar in Canada and grid-tied versus off-grid solar for the trade-offs.

Solar heat has a place as well, for example in drying and in heating water, covered in solar air heating and solar thermal versus solar PV.

How do you size a farm solar system?

Start with the numbers on your bills and the installation options. As an assumed example, a farm uses 30,000 kWh over a year. If the local yield is about 1,200 kWh per kilowatt of panels a year, a 25 kW system would roughly match it. The yield you should use depends on your region, tilt and shading, and our guides on Alberta sunshine hours and peak sun hours in Canada explain how to find it.

Then ask whether you want to cover all of your use or only a part, and when the use happens. A dryer that runs in autumn or irrigation in summer will not match panel output in the same way as a year-round load. An installer's production estimate is only as good as its inputs, so see how to read a solar production estimate.

Where should the panels go?

• Barn and shop roofs. They use space that is already built, close to the loads. Check the roof's age, structure, snow load and the direction it faces. The best solar panel direction in Canada helps with orientation.
• Ground mounts. More flexible in tilt and orientation, and easier to clear of snow, but they take land and need clear ground, fencing and trenching.
• Poles and trackers. Used on some farms to follow the sun or raise the array above stock. They add cost and moving parts.
• Remote stand-alone units. For pumps and fences, away from the grid.

Snow shedding, hail and livestock contact are practical concerns, and so is access for cleaning. Snow handling is covered in solar panels and snow removal.

What approvals and costs should you check?

Connecting to the grid needs approval from the utility, and the rules depend on the province. In Alberta, the microgeneration rules are described in the Alberta microgeneration regulation. Building permits, electrical permits and insurance may all apply, and a rural municipality may have its own conditions. Ask the municipality and your insurer early.

Cost depends on size, mounting, wiring distance, roof work and the region, and prices change from year to year. Compare at least a few written quotes using how to compare solar quotes, and use the installer checklist to vet the company. Business tax treatment of equipment and available programs for farms are covered in capital cost allowance for solar and the Alberta farm solar funding guide.

What does Drake Landing say to farm owners?

Drake Landing Solar Community in Okotoks, Alberta, collected solar heat on garage roofs with 800 flat-plate collectors and shared it through a district loop. Most farms are not neighbourhoods, but the lesson on loads carries over: match the solar system to the energy the site actually uses, and store or shift what you cannot use right away. The solar collection page shows how the arrays worked. The community was wound down from about 2020, and anyone considering a long-lived system should plan for maintenance and eventual removal from the start.

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