Silver Mountain Vineyards Goes to 100% Solar Energy

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silvermtvineyards2Silver Mountain Vineyards, a certified organic vineyard and winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains has joined the small but growing ranks of California growers and wineries to install solar systems to power their operations. The newly installed 46-kilowatt solar system will generate 100 percent of the winery's electricity needs.

The Andalay solar panel system from Akeena Solar Inc. consists of 264 panels installed on a newly built 6,000-square-foot roof, which is part of Silver Mountain's "Triple Green Project," a multi-use project designed to curb the winery's electricity and water use.

The roof is designed to shade the winery and reduce refrigeration requirements, as well as contribute to a new rainwater collection system and fully support the energy requirements of the winery operations, office and residence.

The vineyard has been certified organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) since 1991, and was farmed organically since its inception in 1978.

Akeena Solar has installed solar systems for more than 20 wineries, vineyards and natural resource companies that total more than 1.4 megawatts of solar power.

Environment + Energy Leader