Farms Progressing with Solar

When people think of solar panels, more often than not, they think of them on residential roofs or maybe even spanning large commercial buildings. But with the cost of electricity going up there are other, less obvious structures that are incorporating solar electric systems. Century old farms are beginning to look for an alternative energy source which is both cost effective and safe for the environment.

This has led a number of local Connecticut farms to install solar electric systems on their property. While ground mounts are often a popular choice, some are choosing to use their existing barns as a way to progress with modern technology, without interfering with the valuable land they use to grow crops and feed their livestock. The Hickories of Ridgefield is an organic farm in Ridgefield, CT that has been growing crops for over 2 centuries. They decided they wanted to decrease their carbon foot print as well as their electricity bills and asked PurePoint Energy to make that happen. The end result was a 52 panel, 10.66kW solar array on their west facing barn. Stone Wall Dairy, another organic farm, decided they too wanted a way to offset their electricity usage and felt that solar technology was the way to go. PurePoint Energy designed and installed a 48 panel 10.56kW solar electric system on the barn roof.
Both systems provided a maintenance free, clean energy solution that was cost effective. They were able to take advantage of the available state and federal incentives making this investment decision a no-brainer. These farms will hopefully be the begging of a long list of farms that continue progressing by combining their historical infrastructure with modern technology to help both the agricultural industry as well as the environment.