Green Energy A Smart Business Move
September 15, 2013 
Solar and wind energy is typically thought to be something confined to the Southwest and Western regions of the U.S. However, Eastern and Midwestern orchards are adding solar panels and wind turbines to their facilities and reaping the benefits of doing so. Some orchards add green energy as a conservation method, some to enhance and offset a new CA storage building, still others use so-called green energy because it makes sound business sense.
“Our approach to the whole thing it wasn’t all about reducing carbon input and finding an alternative energy because we had something against the power company,” says Dave Pagoria, co-owner of Helene’s Hilltop Orchard in Meril, WI. “We’re in the apple industry and we just put in a cooler and we realized our consumption was going up. So as a business, I felt that we needed to find a way to reduce our reliance on regular energy, our regular supplier.”
Red Apple Farms in Phillipston, MA, has both solar panels and wind turbines. The event barn was built in 1997, as co-owner Al Rose says “with the intention of being able to have solar panels. It is perfectly facing the south, and it has the right pitch.” The farm produces about 1,500-2,000 kilowatts with solar panels and less than 1,000 kilowatts with a retrofitted wind turbine. Rose sees the correlation between the two types of green energy as a natural fit. “The wind turbine and solar panels complement each other: summer is the sunniest time, winter is your windiest time.”
“Wind works really well if you’re in really high elevation or on the coast. I would advise people to hold off on turbines unless they’re sure it will work” says Rose. “Wind can be 20% variable year-to-year. You need a certain amount of speed — 15 mph (or above) — of wind to get the turbines generating electricity.”
Apple Hill Orchards in Mansfield, OH, is uniquely situated for wind energy. “We are on the second highest point in the state of Ohio, so the site is good,” said Barbara Zaugg Joudrey, co-owner. “We like the idea of clean and alternative energy and even though we had trouble it is still the way to go.”
Barbara Zaugg Joudrey, along with her husband Russ, will soon be installing their third wind turbine at 3.5 kilowatts to accommodate their current systems installed. Two prior turbines were problematic.
Pagoria placed solar panels on the roof on the orchard’s sales building and chose a local company for his solar panels so that service calls would be convenient.
Pagoria placed solar panels on the roof of the orchard’s sales building and chose a local company for his solar panels so that service calls would be convenient.
“My goal is (producing) 66% of the farmer’s needs for power, and we’re producing 72%. I’m locking in the cost for the power for the future, for that 25 years. Any time I can take 72% of my electric costs and just hold it at 2010 cost numbers, I think is a strong point for the business,” said Pagoria. “My expectation now is that I’ll be able to pay it back myself in four years.”
Both Rose and Pagoria noted the ease of maintenance for both solar panels and wind turbines.
Rose says the maintenance on the wind turbine includes lowering it each year, greasing bearings, checking the nuts and bolts, and cleaning the brushes. “We chose (a wind turbine model specifically) that we could maintain ourselves,” says Rose.
For Pagoria, the majority of the maintenance is shoveling snow off the roof of the orchard’s sales building in the winter. He does understand that maintenance will come with time. “There is going to be maintenance down the road where they have inverters inside the building,” said Pagoria. “Supposedly, they last about 11 years. Mine is in an environment that’s really nice, so I’m hoping that I can stretch that 13 or 15 years.”
Both Red Apple Farm and Helene’s Hilltop Orchard have received attention for the solar panels and wind turbine. “From a marketing standpoint it’s been a nice addition. The public sees it as a right thing to do. It has economic and societal value. It adds to overall who we are and what we do,” said Rose.
Makes Sense Financially
When Pagoria considered green energy, he was told “you gotta be wanting to do it because it’s a good thing.” But, he sees the investment portion of green energy as more imporant. “In business, there’s not that much room. It’s gotta have payback. It’s gotta make sense financially,” said Pagoria.
Pagoria sees the addition of solar energy much akin to another progressive program familiar to growers.
“It’s kind of like using IPM in your program,” says Pagoria. “In the end, it’ll probably cost you a little bit more financially, but it’s not much. (Solar energy) is even better than that because it’s going to pay back.”
Rose sees green energy as something that feels right to do and is good for the economy. “Farmers do everything to harness the sun’s energy. When it comes to solar panels, they create energy from the sun, and wind is nothing more than heated air masses. Farmers are in tune with everything related to the weather. Renewable energy systems are such a nice fit with the agricultural industry and go hand in hand in harnessing the sun’s energy,” says Rose.
Tips On Starting Green Energy
Eric Romich, field specialist in energy development at Ohio State University Extension, offers some tips to keep in mind when considering the addition of green energy:
- Review Utility Bills. “To get started, collect historical data and compare your business’s annual electric consumption to previous years. This will help to identify the facility’s hours of peak demand, off-peak hours, and year over year total usage trends.”
- Check For Grants And Programs. “For more information on financial incentives specific to your location, I would recommend visiting Energize Ohio and Database to State Incentives For Renewables and Efficiency. Both sites offer a list of financial options and incentives that are searchable by state, and the Energize Ohio site is sortable by utility provider.”
- Double Check Your Proposals From Developers And Involve Utility Companies. “Make certain you fully understand all assumptions made in a developer’s proposal that is detailing your payback period. For example, did the developer assume an increase in your cost of electricity in the payback model? If so, what was the rate of increase used to illustrate your payback? Compare this to your historical cost and determine if it is acceptable. You could also ask them to run a worst-case scenario that would assume no increase in electrical cost as a comparison. Finally, make sure you (and your developer) engage your utility provider early and often in the process.”
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