Wine

Friday, Jun. 20, 2008

Wine Notes: Sunlight isn't just for growing grapes anymore

The Central Coast is leading the state — and nation — in the size and sophistication of winery solar power projects

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Today marks a significant date on the solar calendar—June 20 is the summer solstice, the day that has the most amount of sunshine. And as sunshine helps grapes grow in area vineyards, it is also the source of power that is running the facilities and tasting rooms of more and more wineries here.

Central Coast wineries, in fact, are leading the state in the size and sophistication of their solar power projects.

This summer, three big systems in Paso Robles are going to let wineries flip the switch to solar power:

EOS Winery, J. Lohr Vineyards and Meridian will together generate more than 2.5 million kilowatts of power, more than all solar-powered wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties combined. EOS will be the largest winery in California to provide 100 percent of its electric power needs using solar, and J. Lohr and Meridian will be competing to see who can claim the largest solar facility of any kind on the Central Coast.

Several factors have contributed to the proliferation of solar systems at area wineries: A consistent 300 days of sunshine a year make for ideal weather conditions; federal and state tax subsidies and other rebates have greatly offset initial investment costs; and the escalating cost of energy has brought the payback period for the investment in the technology down from about 20 years to less than five.

Steve Lohr, vice president of J. Lohr, summarized it best: “One, we’re doing something great for the environment, and two, we’re helping the bottom line.”

Planting solar panels

In order to accommodate its new system, J. Lohr removed 3 acres of merlot vines earlier this year and will replace them with solar panels that will generate over 750 kilowatts to power the winery and tasting room.

While not providing 100 percent of the electric needs, the solar system will generate a substantial amount for the 1 million-case production facility. Total cost of the system is $5 million, but after all the tax credits and rebates, Lohr says the bottom-line impact will only be $650,000. The winery is waiting for permits from the county, and Lohr hopes to have the system operational by September or October.

Also seeking permits is Jeff Hopmayer, the owner of EOS Winery. The EOS system is being installed by SunTechnics Energy Systems Inc., the same company that J. Lohr is using. It will consist of 2.2 acres of solar panels that will provide power for the winery’s 200,000- case production facility. EOS also installed 205 panels last week to supply the tasting room, and a third system on the roof will heat water for the complex. With a maximum output of 540 kilowatts, Hopmayer says he expects to save up to $400,000 a year in electric utility costs.

“At EOS, we believe strongly in producing our wines in a way that is friendly to the land and the environment as a whole,” Hopmayer says. “We’re trying to be environmentally friendly and do this the right way.”

The Meridian project is part of a push by parent company Foster’s Wine Estates to convert at least half a dozen of its wineries across the country to solar power. Rather than replace vines, Meridian is installing just less than 4 acres of solar panels on the roof of its facility. With wine production over 800,000 cases, the system will not provide 100 percent of its power needs, but vineyard director Don Ackerman says it will be substantial.

With output of 1.4 million kilowatts, it will be the largest such winery project on the Central Coast and is one of the biggest in the country. Ackerman, a longtime leader on the Central Coast for sustainable agriculture, says, “This is part of our overall sustainability effort and an effort to reduce our overall carbon footprint.”

The system is going in this summer.

Other wineries go solar

Other wineries here have also installed solar panels to help support their electric power needs. In Paso Robles alone, Tablas Creek Vineyards installed a 35-kilowatt system in 2006 that generates about half the winery’s power; Castoro Cellars added a system last year that supplies 60 percent of its electricity; and L’Aventure, Peachy Canyon and Clautiere also have recently adapted the technology. Almost all report they expect the systems to pay for themselves in less than five years.