A family-owned business in California has replaced grid electricity with on-site solar power, reducing energy costs and creating a live test site for floating photovoltaic research.
California winery Nelson Family Vineyards now powers 100% of its operations after Noria Energy installed solar panels on site. The 74-year-old family farm is now completely powered by clean energy, without taking any agricultural land out of production.
To supplement the production of an existing solar panel on the roof, Noria Energy installed a floating solar panel on an irrigation pond. Together, the two solar projects are expected to generate approximately 200,000 kWh of electricity per year, powering 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 annually in electric bills.
“With the cost of electricity from the grid rising so sharply, 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.”
It is also planned that the installation will serve as a field location for a study on the ecological consequences of floating solar energy. Scientists at the UC Davis Wild Energy Center will use the system to investigate how floating solar installations affect water quality, aquatic species, microclimates and biodiversity in an agricultural environment.
The focus of the research will be to determine whether shading from the floating solar panels can help control invasive zooplankton (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 direct sunlight, the panels are expected to slow the growth of water fleas and aquatic weeds.
“In combination with the deployment of a new floating solar energy installation, Nelson’s Family Vineyards has enabled important ecological research on its property. By providing access to the site to researchers from the UC Davis Wild Energy Center, the vineyard is supporting studies on the interaction of floating solar energy with wildlife and water quality, increasing our understanding of how floating solar energy can expand responsibly,” said Dr. Elliot Steele, postdoctoral researcher at the UC Davis Wild Energy Center.
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