SOAKING UP THE SUN
Winery owners put up solar panels that put back power on the grid
JUNCTION CITY — Who knew watching an electrical meter could be so entertaining?
Robin and Danuta Pfeiffer gleefully watched Tuesday as their meter’s dial spun backward, meaning they were putting power back on the grid, thanks to a wan November sun. The sun’s rays were hitting an array of 122 photovoltaic solar panels recently installed on the roof of the main Pfeiffer Winery building, and then converted to electricity to power the building as well as most of the family’s home.
The Pfeiffers’ operation is the first winery in the southern Willamette Valley to install a solar project, and one of about five in Oregon to go solar. For a business that relies on harnessing the power of the sun to grow grapes, it makes perfect sense, Danuta Pfeiffer said.
“Wineries are supremely set up to use solar energy,” because their vines grow on sun-washed, south-facing slopes, she said. “It’s a natural.”
The project cost $216,000, but the Pfeiffers expect their net cost over five years to be just $4,600, thanks to state and federal tax credits and other tax incentives, and the ability to put surplus power back on the grid, which will offset their electrical bill from Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative.
“We couldn’t afford it without the tax credits,” Danuta Pfeiffer said.
Pacific Continental Bank financed the project and will act as a “pass-through” agent, paying the Pfeiffers for tax credits that exceed their tax liability. The Pfeiffers will use the money from selling the tax credits to pay their loan.
Pfeiffer Winery joins Torri Mor Winery, Stoller Vineyards, Schafer Vineyard Cellar and Sokol Blosser Winery in using solar power. That relative handful pales compared with California, where dozens of wineries have put in solar.
But solar is gaining favor in Oregon, thanks to more generous tax credits enacted by the Legislature. The state’s tax credit for business solar projects increased from 35 percent to 50 percent Jan. 1, 2007.
Both residential and commercial solar projects have shown steady growth in recent years, said Lou Torres, spokesman for the Oregon Energy Department.
In 2003, 64 new residential photovoltaic projects were built; in 2007, there were 233. On the business side, the number of photovoltaic projects has increased from 29 in 2003 to to 109 in 2007. And Torres said he expects 2008 to easily exceed 2007.
The Pfeiffers produce only about 1,500 cases of wine each year, all of it sold at the winery. About 90 percent of their grapes are sold to King Estate Winery.
For the Pfeiffers, putting in solar was part of their commitment to sustainability. But they wouldn’t have done it if it didn’t make financial sense.
“We know we’re being pioneers in this,” Robin Pfeiffer said. “We wanted to be as green as we could... but it has to pencil out,” he said.
King Estate Winery has been working with Lane Electric Co-Op and Advanced Energy Systems of Eugene, which installed Pfeiffer’s system, for about two years on a solar project of its own, winery owner Ed King said. It would be the largest solar facility in the Northwest, he said. But the project stalled over concerns about whether Congress would renew tax credits. The credits have been renewed, he said, which also renewed his hope for the project. “We’re fairly determined and patient. We’ve done a lot of the groundwork...agreements have been drawn, contracts have beeen drafted. I feel very positive about it.”