Cattle Rancher Goes Solar

To help offset the electrical load of this member’s small cattle ranch, a solar array was installed on a southwest facing hill, surrounded by barbed-wire to keep the cows out.

The customer owns a large tract of land and had a sizable electric bill which he wanted to reduce to near-zero at the lowest possible cost. The only option was a ground array. A suitable southwest facing, un-shaded site with a 15 degree slope was available, but unfortunately the site was about 900 feet from the main house and electric interconnection point. This long distance required digging a trench 18” deep, laying 3” conduit, pulling in the conductors, and installing a water line to facilitate panel cleaning. At the system site, two arrays were constructed with disconnect switches located beneath the panels, all enclosed by a barbed-wire cattle fence. The three inverters and web box monitoring system are located in an out-building mid-way between the array and main house, which saved some money on cable costs.