Ag industry seeing huge growth in solar

By Craig W. Anderson

California’s on track to more than double its power generated by solar panel installations by the end of the year with the surge expected to continue in 2010, and this trend is also gaining steam in San Joaquin County as more ag operations turn to solar panels for power.

Solar is part of sustainable winegrape growing "Solar is part of sustainable winegrape growing"

Solar power is becoming an integral part of sustainable winegrowing in the county as far as Liz and Markus Bokisch of Bokisch Vineyards & Winery of Victor are concerned. They installed a 22.5 kilowatt solar energy system to power irrigation pumps covering the irrigation of 100 acres of vineyard, the main shop and two homes.

“We strongly believe in sustainable farming and we put our convictions to work,” said Liz Bokisch about their philosophical approach to solar. “We’re both dedicated to using solar power, we wanted to do it.”

The duo wanted to “reduce the imprint on their land by generating their own electricity,” Markus said. “All of our vineyards are certified Lodi Rules and solar fits our sustainable philosophy. Also, we’re ahead of schedule in paying off the system.”

The solar installations were placed at two locations, one on a rooftop in Clements which powers the shop, a well and a small home, the other secluded in the rows of winegrapes in the Victor vineyard to power the home and the pumps.

A rooftop installation has the benefits of being out of reach for vandals or thieves and it is a second roof on the barn which creates shade and helps cool the building.

“Maintenance is huge and solar panels get dirty, which cuts their effectiveness,” Markus said. We wash our panels three times a year and winter rains do the rest. I watch the power go up as they’re cleaned. All that’s needed is a long pole with a squeegee.”

He said the two biggest issues threatening solar are vandalism and theft and that the best way to address these problems is to “get the panels as high off the ground as possible.”

Bokisch Vineyards has produced hand-crafted Spanish varietal wines since 2000.

Irrigation district uses solar powertc "Irrigation district uses solar power"

The South San Joaquin Irrigation District also contributed to the solar surge when its 419 kilowatt system went online in March as the second phase of a 1.6 MW solar energy plan that could save $400,000 annually in energy costs.

“Solar has been a fabulous thing for us,” said Troylene Sayler, SSJID communications coordinator. “It’s true to our green philosophy.”

Already the solar farm has eliminated the district’s PG&E bill, Sayler said. “We’re also able to pass along a 15 percent discount for our water treatment services to our city customers.”

SSJID serves Tracy, Manteca and Lathrop, with Escalon scheduled to come aboard in 2012. Ripon is also expressing “strong interest” in being a customer, she said.

SSJID provides water for 55,000 acres in the Manteca area and the solar farm provides the bulk of the power for the water treatment plant.

The district receives $6 million in cash incentives from the California Solar Initiative program which encourages solar use with incentives covering up to 30 percent of system costs.

SSJID Utility Systems Director Don Battles said stabilizing electrical costs was the project’s main goal. The installation uses a thin-film to discourage dust and overcast from affecting the panels along with a single axis solar tracking system.

According to Sayler SSJID turned to solar because they were “having some reliability issues at the water treatment plant, we saw the numbers would really work for us, we could help cities with reduced rates during difficult economic times and we’re always looking for ways to cut costs. We will continue to pursue solar.”

The district’s partner throughout the design, construction and installation of the solar array was Conergy in Sacramento. “They were very, very helpful in a variety of ways,” Sayler said.

Winery puts sun power to worktc "Winery puts sun power to work"

“We have installed photovoltaic solar systems at our viticulture headquarters, our winery and at the locations of several water pumps,” said Brad Lange of LangeTwins Winery & Vineyards. “Tax credits and incentive programs help greatly and over time the system will pay for itself.”

LangeTwins installed a 72 Kw array at their vineyard office “seven or eight years ago and it supplies nearly all of the power we need,” Lange said. This was followed by 20 Kw and 10 Kw installations for ag pumps that “provide 60 to 70 percent of the pumps power needs” and 2007 saw the installation of a 230 Kw array at the winery.

He said the system was designed by Renewable Technologies, Inc. of Sutter Creek and the large 230 Kw array serves a double purpose by providing shade for workers sorting grapes and loading presses during crush.

Maintenance is vitaltc "Maintenance is vital"

Lange also said maintenance of the systems is key. “We learned the hard way in the first year or two how important it is to deal quickly with anything that blocks the sun, such as dust and bird waste.”

“The solar system is very much a front and center view of who and what we are,” he said. “Solar is a valuable adjunct to all of our sustainable programs.”

Helping to make everything sustainable is the nearly $1 million in rebates the winery has received since 2004.

Ag Center has solar systemtc "Ag Center has solar system"

San Joaquin County is getting into the solar act at the Ag Center via receiving federal grants to build a 63 Kw, roof mounted, fixed tilt solar electric generating system mounted on the roof of the center’s main building. Phase one is expected to offset nearly 15 percent of the center’s electrical usage with phase two calling for another unit to be installed in the near future that will boost the offset to almost 100 percent.

Almond processor/shipper uses solartc "Almond processor/shipper uses solar"

“Our solar has resulted in vastly reduced power costs,” said Dave Phippen of Travaille & Phippen. “Solar is a high dollar investment and the power company incentives and 30 percent investment tax credit allowed us to do this.”

Travaille & Phippen’s two acres of flat panels provides 560 Kw which represents how much the company uses between its sheller and processor in a common year. “We can’t use the power produced on anything else on the ranch. The regulations are very restrictive and while we’re gratified we have this, it could be so much better.”

SSJID’s program and success motivated the company to pursue solar because “we could see that their system worked well so we replicated it here,” Phippen said.

Solar can be expanded but an addition is treated as an entirely new system, according to Phippen, who also explained Travaille & Phippen put power into the PG&E grid because they need the grid as an energy reservoir. The solar was built to regulate and provide exactly what the company needs and “the utility doesn’t pay you for any extra energy produced,” he said.

He said the solar should pay for itself within 10 years and that it has reduced cost by one-third for the almond shelling and processing operation.

PG&E leaping onto solar programstc "PG&E leaping onto solar programs"

The agricultural sector is moving into the solar energy arena and growers and irrigation districts seem to be more proactive about solar power than power giant PG&E.

A look at the utility’s renewable resources distribution in 2008 shows geothermal leading the way with 34 percent, followed by biomass and waste (32 percent), small hydroelectric (20 percent), wind (14 percent) and solar less than 1 percent.

However, the utility is working on a two megawatt solar photovoltaic pilot project using polycrystalline modules which is the beginning of a plan to develop 500 Mw of solar power over five years. If this and other projects are approved by the PUC and finished by 2015, they could be delivering more than 1,000 gigawatts of power annually.

Solar power may not be THE solution to energy challenges but San Joaquin County agriculture is again leading the way in applying the sun’s power to earthly crops.