December 17, 2025
A newly installed floating solar system powers 100% of the operations Nelson family vineyards in Mendocino County, California. The innovative project was installed on an irrigation pond, allowing the 74-year-old, 1,800-hectare family farm to run entirely on renewable energy without taking any agricultural land out of production.
Together with an existing solar system on the winery’s roof, the floating photovoltaic (FPV) system is expected to generate approximately 200,000 kWh of electricity per year – enough to fully power the winery, agricultural pumps, tasting room, retail store and 12 homes on site. The project is expected to save Nelson Family Vineyards an estimated $90,000 per year, reducing operating costs while supporting its commitment to sustainable operations.
“With the cost of electricity from the grid rising so much, becoming energy independent will have a major and immediate impact on our operations. This investment will save us a tremendous amount of money year after year,” said Tyler Nelson, owner of Nelson Family Vineyards. “Best of all, because the system floats on a pond, not a single acre of land is taken out of production. That means our entire 1,800 acres can be used solely for what matters most: agriculture and supporting wildlife habitat.”
UC Davis is getting a real research site
The FPV facility will also serve as a key field site for an extensive US study on the ecological impacts of FPV technology. Scientists at the UC Davis Wild Energy Center will use the system to investigate how FPV systems affect water quality, aquatic species, microclimates and biodiversity in an agricultural environment.
A major focus of the research will be to determine whether shading from the floating solar panels can help control invasive zooplankton (i.e. water fleas) and aquatic weeds that often clog the vineyard’s high-efficiency drip irrigation filters – a problem that requires hourly maintenance during the peak season. By limiting sunlight, the panels are expected to slow the growth of water fleas and aquatic weeds, reducing both labor-intensive maintenance and chemical use.
“Combined with the deployment of a new floating solar energy facility, Nelson’s Family Vineyards has enabled important ecological research on its property,” said Dr. Elliott Steele, postdoctoral researcher at the UC Davis Wild Energy Center. “By providing researchers from the UC Davis Wild Energy Center access to the site, the vineyard will support studies on the interaction of floating solar energy with wildlife and water quality, increasing our understanding of how floating solar energy can expand responsibly.”
Demonstrate the effectiveness of FPV
The floating solar system was designed and installed by Noria energya Sausalito-based renewable energy specialist and subsidiary of Sunrock distributed generationa leading platform for commercial distributed energy solutions. The company enables companies of all sizes to benefit from solar and energy storage solutions with no upfront costs by offering power purchase agreements and energy service agreements.
“This project demonstrates how FPV technology can convert underutilized water bodies into reliable, highly productive energy sources, allowing growers to improve both the sustainability and efficiency of their operations while keeping farmland fully productive,” said Ron Stimmel, president of Noria Energy.
Tags: commercial and industrial, Sunrock Distributed Generation
