Given reduced costs and the availability of renewable energy rebates and tax credits, many wineries and agricultural enterprises around the world are turning to solar or wind power as a primary source of energy, and many more are considering the option.
Constellation Wines, the largest wine company in the world, will soon boast the largest solar array of any winery in the world at its Gonzales, California winery . Powered by over 6,300 Mitsubishi Electric 185W solar panels, the grid connected array will churn out over a million watts of electricity.
The installation is projected to offset 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide; 1,636 pounds of sulfur dioxide; and 2,909 pounds of nitrogen oxides each year. While carbon dioxide is the most widely known greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide emissions have a GWP of 296 over 100 years; i.e. 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. The greenhouse gas reduction will be the equivalent to taking 2,000 cars off the road each year.
When the winery is not crushing grapes during the summer months, the array will export enough electricity to the grid to supply all of the electrical requirements for a quarter of the roughly 1,695 households in Gonzales.
