In 2015, Terrasmart designed and installed a unique 1.14-MW system for a cranberry bog in Carver, Massachusetts. The bog’s wetlands — with a combination of acidic peat soil, sand, gravel and a continuous water supply — required careful installation and scheduling to drive piles without damaging the cranberries’ fragile vines.

Shade from the solar modules actually provides an ideal growing environment for the berries underneath. At the same time, the 1.14-MW ground-mount system is harvesting clean energy of its own to power the farm’s operations.

The growing season for cranberries spans April through November, requiring the project schedule to sync with nature’s schedule. Because the vines become more rigid and breakable in the later summer months, it was critical to finish the installation earlier in the year when the vines were more flexible. For this reason, post driving was completed early in 2015.

Protective coverings were also placed over the cranberry bog and adjacent moat so the post-driving machines could navigate the landscape without disturbing the vines.

Between protecting the cranberry vines, safely transporting installation equipment over the wetlands, and working around nature’s schedule, there were a lot of components in play to successfully complete the Carver, Massachusetts, ground-mount system. Knowing the conditions of the project site in advance helped us to identify viable solutions.

Some have argued that installing solar on usable farmland renders the land useless for agriculture, but solar farms like Carver are proving that going solar doesn’t have to mean giving up growing. In this case, the ground-mount solar installation actually provided dual benefits for both the cranberries and the farm.