Dairy farmers look to the future with renewable energy

Highly encouraging statistics from The Grocer’s December issue. “78% of dairy farmers were now taking measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on their farms.” A very positive figure and a whole 28% higher than the target of 50%, which was set for 2015.

A part of this has been down to the industry’s investment in renewable energy. We have worked with dairy farmers in recent times and found the way this industry works can be perfect for a solar PV installation.

Lye Cross Farm in Bristol decided to utilise their roof space with a solar investment through Mypower back in the summer of 2014. Their cheese packing building which required constant refrigeration was perfect for solar PV. The peak period for refrigeration coincides with the peak output from PV making solar a perfect match for food companies with chilling or refrigeration needs.

Instead of paying hefty energy bills to the energy giants, Lye Cross Farm now generate a large portion of electricity themselves; totalling 170,000 units per year, which creates income for them through the Feed-in Tariff. The whole system will have paid for itself in five years and they expect to save £15,700 every year. In addition they will avoid 72 tonnes of carbon emissions per annum. A great example of a big money saving scheme with additional income, which heavily reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more about Lye Cross Farm’s solar PV investment here.

The decision to invest in solar panels will benefit your business for at least 25 years and the environment as well.

If you’re a dairy farmer and would like to know more about solar PV, get in touch – it costs nothing to talk to us…