From Inhabitat: Napa Valley's Far Niente Winery has found a unique and innovative way to provide their power requirements to the winery: a floating solar pond. They knew they wanted to go solar, but they faced the problem of "where" to put the large number solar panels they'd require. From their blog:We needed a spot for about 2000 solar panels and we didn’t have a big roof. We didn’t want to take out vineyard because we need these grapes to make our wine. The vineyard pond is where we recycle our winery water. It provides the water for irrigation and frost protection. Most importantly for solar panels; it is wide open for gathering sunshine.
They worked with the solar team to come up with their innovative solution: about 1000 panels float on pontoons on their irrigation pond. They've christened it "Floatovoltaics". They're gathering more power than they actually use, and they believe that by floating the solar pods, they are providing welcome shade for their irrigation pond from the California sunshine, thus preventing evaporation and maintaining their precious water supply. An eco-win in so many ways!You can get their wines at the LCBO, SAQ and other Canadian liquor vendors.
No comments:
Post a Comment