HARVESTING SUN ON THE FARM

When spring rains got Grandma NewEnergyNews down, she often sighed, “But it’s good for the farmers.”

What’s just as good for the farmers these days, it turns out, is sun.

More and more of the big agricultural companies in California are taking advantage of their open space and unshaded rooftops by installing solar panels. For the obvious reason: It significantly cuts power bills. It’s an especially economic choice for high-expense wineries and packing plants that have big refrigeration and air conditioning costs.

Bernadette Del Chiaro,clean energy advocate, Environment California: "We're seeing a lot of wineries go solar, and it's not just to green their image…It's because they can actually save money."

California and federal policies make it possible for solar energy-generated electricity to be the newest fruit of California’s Central Valley, the most productive agricultural region in the country. The federal investment tax credit covers 30% of the system’s purchase and installation and will cover even more of the total cost beginning January 1, 2009.

The state offers system rebates, prevents system installation from triggering a property tax reassessment and requires utilities to buy back a portion of any unused power the farms generate. Activists in California are pushing for a new feed-in tariff that would allow farmers to earn even more.

It’s no wonder that more and more California growers are being heard muttering “Pray for sun…”

An award-winning story about California sun:

Jessica Lundberg’s grandparents started the family rice farm 70 years ago on 150 acres about 70 miles north of Sacramento. They had come out of the dustbowl and seen firsthand what it meant to abuse the land. Unlike others around them, they protected the soil quality by refusing to burn off rice stubble after the harvest.

Jessica Lundberg: "They had seen what happens ... if you don't take care of your resources...When they came to California and had a chance to start again, they took it really seriously."

Jessica’s father and 3 uncles started the Lundberg rice mill in the 1960s. They continued their father’s stewardship by refusing to use chemicals to grow their rice.

Jessica and her cousins and cousins' spouses run an agricultural company that grows 17 varieties of rice on about 15,000 acres and turns 45-to-60 million pounds of rice a year into 150+ products (rice chips, rice syrup, rice pasta, rice cakes, 1-to-2 pound packages of rice, bulk rice, etc.). Continuing their grandparents' commitment to conservation, they won a Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their use of New Energy, Energy Efficiency and sustainable methods.

U.S. EPA: "[The Lundberg energy program is] the largest U.S. renewable energy commitment by an agribusiness."

From their 2 solar systems and their investments in renewable energy credits that support the development of wind power, the Lundbergs earn the right to say New Energy provides 100% of their electricity. They expect their solar systems to provide them with electricity for the next 30 to 40 years. Half the $3.5 million cost came from rebates and tax credits. The rest of the cost will be paid off in 8-to-10 years.

Jessica Lundberg, board of directors chair and seed nursery manager, Lundberg Family Farms: "We're still carrying the cost of installation, paying them off…But we think it was a good business decision. It's just so satisfying to be able to contribute like that, to have something tangible we are able to do."

NewEnergyNews can add nothing more eloquent.

click to enlarge

Growing number of Calif.ag businesses go solar
Steve Lawrence, December 5, 2008 (AP via SF Chronicle)

WHO
Lundberg Family Farms (Jessica Lundberg, board of directors chair and seed nursery manager); Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate, Environment California; Barry Cinnamon, chief executive officer, Akeena Solar; Grower Direct Nut Co. (Ron Martella, co-director); California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)

WHAT
California farmers and agricultural companies are taking advantage of federal and state incentives to develop solar energy as a new cash “crop.”

The solar panels at the Robert Sinskey Vineyards. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- The trend toward solar installations at agricultural facilities seems to have accelerated in the last 5 years.
- The Lundberg family has grown rice in California for 70 years and began milling in the 1960s.
- Lundberg farms installed its first solar system in 2006. It added another set of panels in 2007.
- Grower Direct Nut Co. expects its $3.5 million solar installation to be paid for in ~ 8 years.

WHERE
- The Lundberg family rice farm is in California’s Central Valley, north of Sacramento.
- Lundberg Farms’ 1st solar system was 5 long sets of panels on ~ 1 acre. It’s 2nd is on a warehouse roof.
- Grower Direct Nut Co. is in Hughson, 80 miles south of Sacramento.
- The trend toward the use of solar systems on farms is in sunny California, always ahead of the curve

WHY
- 960+ California companies have applied for rebates for installing solar panels through the CPUC. There's no breakdown on how many are in agriculture.
- Akeena Solar, a Central California solar system installer, estimates that 50-to-100 wineries use solar energy.
- Packing plants that have high refrigeration and air conditioning costs are also thought to be widely using solar systems.
- Lundberg Family Farms, one of the biggest U.S. producers of organic rice and rice products, gets 10-to-15% of its electricity from its 2 solar sytems and is planning to include more solar on a new office and warehouse.

The solar panels at the Oakhurst Dairy. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Jessica Lundberg, board of directors chair and seed nursery manager, Lundberg Family Farms: "It made sense from an environmental point of view and a business point of view…”
- Ron Martella, co-director, Grower Direct Nut Co.: “We're in one of the cheapest electrical districts in the state…We came to the conclusion that with the tax credits and rebates, the money we'd save on electricity would be a positive thing for our company in the long run."