Farm renewable energy

FIAT 450

Well-Known Member
Maybe there a tread already on this and please put this there if needs be. We are thinking if funds are available come end of the yr to do some sort of renewable energy here. Is it really only solar panels the only game in town at the moment? Looked at wind before but to many moving parts. Digesters are another option but wouldn't have the land base to feed it. Is there anything new and up and coming but not in the larger domain yet? What have guys done that has worked or not worked out? Do you go solar with batteries and provide enough electricity to feed our own use or go to try sell back on top of that also?
 
Maybe there a tread already on this and please put this there if needs be. We are thinking if funds are available come end of the yr to do some sort of renewable energy here. Is it really only solar panels the only game in town at the moment? Looked at wind before but to many moving parts. Digesters are another option but wouldn't have the land base to feed it. Is there anything new and up and coming but not in the larger domain yet? What have guys done that has worked or not worked out? Do you go solar with batteries and provide enough electricity to feed our own use or go to try sell back on top of that also?
For farm or house?
 
Been thinking of this again the last few days might do something for house I was thinking along the lines of small wind and solar max 5kw. For a farm especially dairy I'd look at solar sized to suit the farm if you get buy back then go bigger. The reason I'd think of wind for the house is even if it's only a 1or 2 kW it should keep on top of the background power when the solar is low
 
Been thinking of this again the last few days might do something for house I was thinking along the lines of small wind and solar max 5kw. For a farm especially dairy I'd look at solar sized to suit the farm if you get buy back then go bigger. The reason I'd think of wind for the house is even if it's only a 1or 2 kW it should keep on top of the background power when the solar is low
Batteries yes or no? For the farm.
 
Batteries yes or no? For the farm.
Yes I would think. I was briefly talking to him about them, he installed the battery. I know we have had a lot of sun in the last 2 weeks, they where by far meeting his daily demand and he was getting a half hours milking in the evening from the battery. Had it all on an app and could see how much power the panels produced sunny weather through out the day
 
For any farm using a decent volume of hot water I'd look at solar thermal to reduce the energy load for certain. Brilliant system using very little juice.

Otherwise I'd say solar and battery storage is the way.

Someone told me that charging batteries on cheap late night electricity would be viable too. Not sure though
 
Unless things have changed which I suppose they are constantly id be taking a good hard look at costs and lifespan of batteries before investing. Renewable and short term spikes in energy requirement like milking dont mix, without feed in tariffs its just not that straightforward a decision for farmers around solar anyway.
 
Just reading though the comments above all make good points. my thing about batteries is mainly value for buck plus I would question life span and potential fire risk especially if worked hard such as milking time. Solar panels for hot water should be in all dairy farms very simple system and effective even more so now with the volumes of hot water needed.
Pv panels use them to cover the background electrical demand that's a bigger part of your bill than you might realise yes the milking is a high draw but it's a short peak and trying to cover that will take a high cost. The more I think of it the more a multi approach makes sense to me
 
So in a nut shell go look at the electricity bill see how much energy we use and spec the panel to energy usage? Stay away from batteries and if the government ever take their thumb out of their rear ends increase the panels and sell back.
Get a gadget that measures the electricity and see what is using and where savings can be made . Daughter has seven panels and is in the green for most of the day and has reduced her bill by half .
@Bencroy friend down the road has a massive amount of panels and battery ground source heating and chargeable hybrid and has a very low bill . Her last spend on battery and panels was 20K after the grant .
 
So in a nut shell go look at the electricity bill see how much energy we use and spec the panel to energy usage? Stay away from batteries and if the government ever take their thumb out of their rear ends increase the panels and sell back.
As you are dairy farming, you can use periodS with surplus power to heat hot water, think it can be set up to automatically do it. I’d agree with other comments that batteries don’t make economic sense. Think domestic is a bit trickier as for the average 9 to 5 worker they use most of their power in the opposite part of the day to when the panels will be supplying the most. The fancy electric car may not even be outside the house in daylight hours in winter except for weekends!
 
As you are dairy farming, you can use periodS with surplus power to heat hot water, think it can be set up to automatically do it. I’d agree with other comments that batteries don’t make economic sense. Think domestic is a bit trickier as for the average 9 to 5 worker they use most of their power in the opposite part of the day to when the panels will be supplying the most. The fancy electric car may not even be outside the house in daylight hours in winter except for weekends!
We have hot water on demand using gas at the moment and at the moment I'd be slow going away from it as it's working well for us. Panels should benefit us in summer as be getting some of the milkings in in daylight hr. After that it's cooling milk and running scrapers in the winter.
 
I’d look to see if it could be set up for the surplus power to pre heat your hot water supply and then use the gas to bring it up to full temp if not hot enough already. Other than that it’s just trying to spread your energy demand out over the day. Run scrapers at times parlour is off and milk isn’t cooling, etc
 
I’d look to see if it could be set up for the surplus power to pre heat your hot water supply and then use the gas to bring it up to full temp if not hot enough already. Other than that it’s just trying to spread your energy demand out over the day. Run scrapers at times parlour is off and milk isn’t cooling, etc
I need a good lot of hot water the the plant and the cost of heaters and maintenance I don't think would pay me to move away from gas. Milk is cooled fairly quick pretty much by the time the machine is finished washing the tank has cut out.. beginning to think trees might be handier
 
I need a good lot of hot water the the plant and the cost of heaters and maintenance I don't think would pay me to move away from gas. Milk is cooled fairly quick pretty much by the time the machine is finished washing the tank has cut out.. beginning to think trees might be handier
You need to talk to some professionals and get a bit of guidance. Generally hot water is viewed as the battery as it is a productive use for the excess production times. That and electric machines and gear around the place that can also use it. If you're not making use of either it might be hard to make the maths work I think.

Like you though I think farmers need to be looking at options in this area urgently
 
I’m thinking of going down the boiler route,I’ve a huge amount of timber on the farm,the amount of fallen branches in a year will heat our farmhouse and heat water for the parlour easily,I need an easy way to chip it without spending an age with the chainsaw,also need a boiler that doesn’t need very small chips.
 
The shed here is 45' x 30' portal framed, one side faces the rising sun and the other gets the afternoon/evening sun. I'd be very interested in having panels on it even if they were only for heating the water.
Has anyone any recommendations for reputable installers?
@Marooned75 who did you get to install your system?
 
Just reading back through this thread…..

I can’t understand why the greens haven’t made more of using farm buildings for developing renewable (solar) energy…. The country is filled with sheds which wouldn’t look worse for being covered in panels…..I think when you hear of these 40 acre solar panel farms that it’s honestly a waste of good land but if we all put them on our sheds…. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Regarding the setup costs, etc- I do believe selling back to the grid is going to become a thing this year. People who are installing solar panel units at the moment (in houses anyway) are being told not to bother with batteries due to this. That’d at least cut down on the setup costs.
 
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