More and more California wineries are adopting solar energy to power their operations. Given the plentiful sunshine, high power bills, and abundant roof space, going solar makes makes good business sense for California winemakers. Wineries’ busy crush season spans from August to October, using huge amounts of energy. Solar combats high electricity costs during this time.
Here are some California wineries powering their operations with solar:
- Chateau Montelena converted their entire winery to solar in 2007.
- Cline Cellars uses solar panels to power their completely energy-independent facility.
- Domaine Carneros has a 120 kW electric solar system which provides about 40% of the winery’s annual total electrical needs.
- EOS Winery recently completed a $3.8 million project to turn their vineyard into a sustainable business. Their solar panels delivers up to 15% more energy than traditional systems.
- Fetzer installed the largest solar array in the wine industry of its time back in 2006.
- Frey Vineyards installed a 17.3 kilowatt solar system in 2006 that has dramatically reduced their energy bills.
- Frog’s Leap Winery installed a 160kW system and hosted a solar seminar that brought representatives from many different wineries looking to make the switch.
- Handley Cellars powers 75% of their entire vineyard with solar electricity.
- J Lohr’s 3-acre solar array offsets a whopping 75% of the Paso Robles winery’s energy usage.
- Larkmead Vineyards installed a new state of the art winery in 2005 that uses solar panels to generate their energy.
- Maryvale Vineyard’s Starmont is a visionary “green” structure that uses solar panels to create enough electricity to power over 250 homes.
- Mount Eden Vineyards expects to save over $445,000 in energy costs over 30 years by powering their facility with solar.
- Parducci uses solar panels to supply 25% of the power to its Ukiah winery.
- Robert Keenan Winery converted their entire winery to solar power in 2007.
- Rodney Strong Vineyards has one of the largest solar winery arrays in the world and provides 40% of Sonoma County wineries’ electricity needs.
- Shafer Vineyards was the first winery to switch to 100% solar power in December 2004.
- St. Francis Winery and Vineyard installed a 457 kilowatt system in 2004 that generates 30% of the company’s energy use.
- Tolosa Winery just finished a project to cross over to 100% solar power made up of 2,500 panels to provide electricity for all of their production needs.
- Trefethan Family Vineyards has made an effort to cross over all of their business to practice sustainability, including powering their offices, winery, and vineyard operations with solar.
- ZD Wines recently completed renovating their winery to a 100% solar powered structure, that includes 712 panels on their buildings’ roofs.
There are hundreds more of wineries who are using solar to power the high electrical costs that are involved in producing wine.
Are your favorite wineries going solar? Take a gander at the complete list on SunRun’s solar calculator.
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Not to mention taking advantage of the tax incentives, $40,000 in tax credits on a $70,000 solar install isn’t too bad. This seems to be the economic tipping point of going green, and these vineyards are the poster children. Cheers to the elixir of life!