Like the corn growing in their fields, a small crop of solar arrays is sprouting at Olson Family Farms in Sturgeon Bay. Using an acre of land behind their barn that was not efficient for other purposes, Olson Family Farms is installing approximately 240 solar panels to capture the sunlight and turn it into energy that can be used on the farm. Owner Rich Olson expects the panels to capture enough sunlight to cover about 98 percent of their energy needs for the year. Innovation is nothing new for the over 150-year-old operation. Olson says locals came out to their fields to see if some of the first tractors with rubber tires and four-wheel drive would fail. More recently, the farm installed one of the first robotic milkers in Door County, and Olson’s brother Eric has become heavily involved with Peninsula Pride Farms. Because of that involvement, the Olsons have used cover crops and interseeding ways to protect the area’s soil and water. While not everything they have tried has worked, Olson believes the solar project will go down as one of its successes.
Olson hopes that the solar panels will be generating power by July, which he adds is when their electric bills are often the highest. Olson Family Farm
