Last month saw Lightsource bp featured on the Irish Farmers’ Journal’s Young Stock podcast. The Young Stock podcast, hosted by Stephen Robb, is designed for farmers and rural audiences under 35, focused on pressing issues and featuring interviews and focus pieces across a wide range of related industries.

The interview was paired with Lightsource bp’s partnership with the podcast, one in a long string of endeavours with the Irish Farmers’ Journal over the past few years. We’re committed to working with rural publications, businesses and entities, not just to grow our pipeline of projects, but to promote the benefits of solar and raise the profile of the industry across Ireland.

Solar is becoming an increasingly popular option for farmers and landowners across Ireland – revenue isn’t dependent on the weather, it comes with decades of guaranteed income and has the added benefit of having significant positive impacts for the land, the local community and the environment.

Choosing a solar lease allows rural businesses to continue traditional farming practices alongside renewable energy generation. Solar farms are the perfect place to graze sheep, so by renting land for solar, landowners get access to two income streams, from the panels and from the flock. Farmers have seen many benefits from grazing sheep on solar projects – the panels offer shade and shelter for sheep, while the secure fencing provides protection from predation and harassment.

In the episode, one of our development team spoke with Stephen, discussing the solar development process, and the many ways in which a solar lease can benefit a farming business, financially and beyond. The podcast also covers the many ways in which solar can coexist with farming, promoting multi-land use and agrivoltaics and demonstrating the ways in which Lightsource bp is developing sustainable projects.

To listen to the full podcast episode, click here.