Two harvests on, Butford Organic cider production facility is learning how to get the most from Sola

Butford Organics are aiming for Carbon Neutral production of their award winning Soil Association certified Organic Ciders, Perry’s and Preserves. One of the steps towards this aim was installing Solar back in 2011.

Martin and Janet Harris installed 4kWp Solar PV panels on their barn, and 12 months later, the Herefordshire business were able to put new schedules in place to ensure that their second autumn with Solar links electricity hungry operations with sunnier days when their electricity generation from the solar panels is at its peak.

Martin Harris, owner of Butford Organics said, “The autumn and early winter is the busiest time in our production cycle and the process needs a number of power hungry machines, primarily our mill and pasteuriser.”

Food and drink production is in the top 10 of electricity hungry business sectors for the UK, so, while Organic businesses like Butford seek to lower their carbon footprint, others will be negotiating hard on their utility bills as prices rise once more.

“This is the second autumn for which we have had the installation. Although it is not always possible we try and schedule our workload so that we carry out the more electricity hungry operations on sunnier days." said Martin, in November 2012. “We have always been conscious of the deleterious effect this has on our carbon footprint but our carbon neutral aim is now much more achievable with the PV array installed by Southern Solar.”

Surprise bonus – more Solar than previously thought! Martin has calculated he has the added bonus in that the Solar PV installed back in 2011 has generated around 10 per cent more than estimated at the time of installation despite our miserable summer. This bodes well for the future.

To find out more about Solar for Agriculture click here.