07/24/08 - Humboldt
By: Brandon Artiles
Solar Powered Winery
Since the beginning of time farmers
have used the sun to cultivate crops. I guess you could say HRH
Vineyard owner Peter Howard is taking that to the next level.
Three weeks ago Howard had solar panels installed at his wine
storage facility located near the intersection of highways 45
and 152 in Humboldt.
Howard says the panels have
generated 17.5 kilowatts of energy, or as he says, "enough to
run 10 ovens flat out."
The $130,000 Solar System,
installed by Argard Energy based in Charlotte, N.C. is also a
means of using a cleaner energy. Howard says the system
measures how much carbon emissions are being saved from the
environment but using solar energy instead of oil or coal.
According to the systems calculations Howard says, "1/2 a ton a
week of CO2 we're not putting into the atmosphere."
Howard says he's formed a
partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority through the
Greenswitch program. "They will buy excess power we have. Once
a month they come by and read the meter. They see how much I
took and how much I put out," Howard says. "Hopefully on good
months we get a check."
While Howard is a proponent of
renewable energies, his main motivation was rising utility
costs. However, he admits the Solar System is not guaranteed to
be cost-effective. "The jury is out on the economics of it,"
Howard said, "Come back and interview me in 10 years, and I'll
tell you the story on that one."
There are some other drawbacks
to the alternative energy, "obviously, the solar system won't
work at night, and in the winter time, when the sun is low, we
don't get as much power out," Howard said.