SunPower Corp., a global solar technology and energy services company, and Watershed Premium Wines, an award-wining winery located in Margaret River, Australia, has completed a 149 kW SunPower solar power system installed on a roof shared by Watershed’s barrel store and wine warehouse. The high efficiency SunPower system is expected to save Watershed AU$79,000 in energy costs annually and offset electricity use by 30%.
The solar power system, which features 456 SunPower E20/327 solar panels with efficiencies of 20%, is expected to generate approximately 238 MW of emissions-free electricity each year. This is the same amount of energy needed to produce 28,000 cases of wine annually according to estimates provided by AusIndustry, an Australian government initiative. The decision to go solar further enhances Watershed’s commitment to environmentally-responsible business practices..
“Wine making is an energy-intensive business, so installing a high efficiency and cost-effective SunPower solar system will help lower our overall operating expenses while allowing us to produce finely-crafted Australian wines with an even smaller carbon footprint,” said Watershed Premium Wines Ltd Managing Director Geoff Barrett. “With a SunPower system designed to produce clean, reliable electricity for the next 25 years or more, this was a low-risk investment that made both economic and environmental sense for us.”
Watershed owns the solar power system, which was installed by Sunwise Electrics, and will claim the associated Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) through 2030. The winery expects to use low-cost solar energy produced by the system to offset electricity consumption from the local network when demand and energy prices are at their peak, especially during vintage.
“Wineries from around the world have chosen SunPower solar technology to reduce electricity costs including Domaine Carneros Winery in the United States, Glenelly Wine Estate in South Africa, Luciano Sandrone Winery in Italy, and now Watershed Premium Wines in Australia,” said Chris O’Brien, SunPower country managing director, Australia.