Goats boost solar power

Japanese solar power plant operator SB Energy Corp will use goats and sheep to boost the output of its 43MW plant in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.

Nikkei Technology reports that the plant will employ four sheep and two goats to eat weeds. The site is apparently threatened by vines that grow on the plant's fences and cast shadows on adjacent solar panels. If goats and sheep eat the vines, that problem goes away ... and so do the CO₂ emissions that come from using a powered weed-whacker.

One sheep will be fitted with a GPS device to test if the beast is eating the foliage thought to be appetising, the better to learn if the experiment is worth repeating. ®