RUTE SUNTRACKER is Commercializing Cattle + Solar
What is RUTE SunTracker?
- patented, proven and bankable solar tracking system - nuts, bolts, motors. We're not the developer.
- cable trellis, poles and trusses elevate the solar panels to 13-ft above cattle pastures
- Daily or seasonal tracking modes. Even in northern latitude ranchland, the system tracks seasonal sun angle along with automated wind and hail stow modes.
Wind tests and 3rd party wind assessments were completed in 2024. In 2025 we built the first commercial 120kW system in Oregon to service the electric load of a 20,000 acre ranch.
RUTE manufactures and delivers the entire assembly. Our customers are looking for dual land use for their power needs, alongside ranchers who get dual income, no loss of pasture, plus shade and water retention.
First, What is Next? RUTE is looking for:
- Regional ranch partners to showcase the RUTE SunTracker system to other ranchers and power producers. Best fit is a ranch or dairy that has the electric load where we can build in 2025 and 2026. These regional projects will be in the 100-200kW size range, same size as shown at left, about 1 acre.
- Partner to buy the $150k tax credits eligible on this project
- Large ranches and corporate electricity buyers to network the vision.
In 2026/7 we'll shift to serving 3MW to large utility scale size projects in the hundreds of acre size range. We worked with PlanitWorks on this project at C2 Cattle Company in Southern Oregon.
Product Benefits
Permitting: There is no land-use impact.
Construction: This is a site during full construction. The cows were grazing during construction. Low cost for ground work. Large EPCs are welcome to call us about the scalability. The installation facility allows for minimal handling of panels.
Operations: The ranch manages the vegetation and should expect more and tastier grass. The IPP should expect more revenue from low soiling and temperature coefficient.
Liability and Insurance
The market will adapt to address liability, insurance, and related concerns where ranching and electric generation operations coexist. For our smaller, regional projects, these issues were straightforward to navigate. Looking ahead, we expect utility-scale developments to recognize the value of preserving existing land use—keeping ranchers actively managing their land. In the long term, this means healthier grasslands, and avoiding the risk of creating weed-dominated spaces.
Our Mission & History
At RUTE, we design, manufacture and deliver strong, cable-based structures to support wind and solar generators. Our structures are inspired by nature and engineered with the planet in mind.
RUTE SunTracker is a division of RUTE Foundation Systems. In 2018 we built the first precast post-tensioned, box girder foundation for the wind industry and won a prestigious Post-Tensioning Institute award.
USDA and DOE (& thanks to U.S. taxpayers) helped us with grants for our RUTE SunTracker technology. In 2022 we piloted at Standing Rock Reservation. In 2024 we presented the scalability of cattle + solar at 2024's World Agrivoltaic Conference (image right).
Buffalo
The plan is we'll have a RUTE SunTracker system over this buffalo herd at Standing Rock, North Dakota, this year. Another PlanitWorks project.
The electricity will power up the Wozu cultural regeneration projects. We're honored to be part of their work. Check it out: https://wozu.net/
RUTE SunTracker will build our robust design in the windiest U.S. environment, along with big animals. The system is designed to withstand horizontal forces much larger than buffalo.
Greener Grass and Wind Power Blades
We noticed after about a week that indeed the grass was greener under our RUTE 'Blumes'. In June in Southern Oregon it appears evident that the grass gets sun stressed and shade helps a lot.
The footings are made from recycled wind blades from Vestas (much appreciated, Vestas). No gravel or sand. These are light and strong and turned out to be a great success for us via the American-Made Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize, a U.S. Department of Energy initiative. Cattle + solar could take on a lot of blades in the footings and support solar electricity generation for 40+ years.
The pipe is a frack pipe from the Bakken. Natural gas opened the door to this U.S. energy boom by cycling well with wind and solar generation, ironically also our hardware.