Let's deal first with the obvious: Every vineyard is a solar vineyard. It's that photosynthesis thing. Degree days, anyone? Though today there are commercial winegrape vineyards in the most improbable geographic locations, even Alaska can claim "midnight sun." No one I've heard of (yet) is making "grow light" wine. There's even an unavoidable linguistic link: which came first, the tannin, or the suntan?
With the sun ever-present in the vineyard, the ever-increasing number of vineyard technological devices and the ever-rising cost of energy to run them, the adoption of solar power is, simply put, a natural. Grapegrowers are farmers, after all, in intimate contact with nature every day, so domesticating its power is already a habit.
Domaine Carneros, St. Francis, Ridge, Fetzer and other major California wineries have already deployed solar arrays to augment traditional power sources in winery operation. Rodney Strong Vineyards held a celebration earlier this year to mark the receipt of a $5 million state rebate, upon installation of a $10 million solar energy system atop its Sonoma County barrel house.
But solar power is not limited to in-winery applications. Tractors and human labor excepted, there's almost no aspect of vineyard operations that cannot be sourced by solar, also known as photovoltaic systems (PVS).
Green & Red Vineyard, St. Helena's for instance, has put all of its operations on a single power meter, including irrigation pumps. Its system was designed and installed by Sun Power (sunpowergeo.com), a San Rafael, Calif. solar contractor that has become deeply involved in the wine industry.
"(Green & Red's power) usage increases in June, with irrigation, and rises until about November," according to James Watt, senior energy consultant with Sun Power. What with refrigeration, chilling, fermentation and lighting, the heaviest power usage is during crush. As electric power consumption in California has become increasingly problematic during recent summertime peak use periods, getting as much power as possible "off the grid" assures continuous operation, even during blackouts, as well as economic advantages.
In winter months, when the winery is less active, typical usage will drop, and a company with a PVS "tied to the grid" can sell excess wattage to its local utility provider. In California, utilities are required to accept grid tied systems, and this type of net metering is available in 23 states, Watt says. (For state-by-state information on solar incentives, visit the Web site dsireusa.org.)
"Wineries are a perfect fit (for solar), because their pattern of electricity usage is just when solar is producing," Watt says. Also, "Typically, vineyards and wineries have an abundance of space," a necessity for sizeable solar panels.
Government incentives are not the only economic benefits to be reaped from choosing solar. Sun Power, for example, offers a financing program in which PV systems virtually pay for themselves. Annual payments for the system are calculated to equal the amount the client saves in power costs. When the system is paid for, in three to six years, it begins to generate revenue, and the system owner is free forever from electricity rate hikes, which, according to a California Public Utilities Commission study, have increased an average of 7% to 8% annually for the past 30 years.
Any appliance that is currently powered by electricity or diesel generators can be linked to the PVS, including wind generators and irrigation pumps.
WorldWater Corp., Pennington, N.J., (worldwater.com), recently installed the world's largest solar powered irrigation pump at Locke Ranch, a cotton growing operation in the San Joaquin Valley. The 36 Kw AquaMax[TM] employs proprietary, patented technology which powers three-phase water pumps and motors as large as 600 horsepower, and enables them to switch "instantly and automatically" between solar and the grid or diesel, according to Debra Grady, WorldWater director of marketing. She terms the system an "electronic brain" that permits these functions to occur. "We do not manufacture solar panels or pumps," she explains. Normally, existing pumps are kept in use, and installation takes two to three months.
WorldWater systems are also suitable for chilling and refrigeration in wineries, and the company is "having very significant discussions with several major vineyards," Grady says. Horsepower needed per acre of grapes is based on the vineyard's individual irrigation requirements, and systems are sized using published solar and meteorological data. A WorldWater system to power a 50 hp irrigation pump will typically cost $100,000-$125,000 after incentives, "but could also generate $15,000-$20,000 in annual electricity cost savings through net metering," Grady points out. And, she adds, "Yearly maintenance for our systems is negligible--rinsing off the panels and checking the wire, typically." The systems have a life span of more than 25 years