WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A Purdue College alumnus is utilizing clear, photo voltaic vitality to drastically scale back the electrical invoice for his northern Indiana hog farm with the assistance of an organization based mostly within the Purdue Analysis Park. (Picture supplied) Obtain picture
Kraig Resler, an alumnus of Purdue’s Faculty of Agriculture, partnered with Emergent Photo voltaic Vitality to seek out methods to scale back vitality prices, defend the surroundings, acquire vitality independence and spend money on the long-term advantages of on-farm photo voltaic.
“We’re all the time discussing the right way to make our 7,000-pig operation extra cost-efficient and environmentally pleasant,” Resler mentioned. “We’re excited that our accomplished photo voltaic array can have a constructive affect on the surroundings and save us cash on electrical energy for years to return.”
The mission is among the state’s largest confined animal feeding operation photo voltaic arrays. The photo voltaic array is rated at 155 kilowatts DC and can produce greater than 200,000 kilowatt-hours of vitality per yr. This can cowl roughly 75 % of the farm’s vitality demand and scale back vitality prices by the identical quantity. This equates to a discount of three,500 tons of carbon emissions over 25 years.
“This was a difficult website,” mentioned Chris Rohaly, engineering and operations supervisor of Inexperienced Alternate options Inc., an Emergent Photo voltaic subcontractor concerned with this mission. “Area was restricted for the specified system dimension, and the tie-in to the utility feed required a protracted trench. However we iterated design till we reached the optimum between the farm’s objectives and website constraints. This method will produce sturdy outcomes.”
This mission was awarded a Rural Vitality for America Program grant by the U.S. Division of Agriculture, which helped reimburse among the farm’s preliminary funding. The USDA grant and federal tax incentives, together with net-metering, will produce financial savings that can defray the prices of the mission by greater than 65 % general.
“That is our largest farm photo voltaic mission so far, and I couldn’t be extra happy with the consequence,” mentioned Jeremy Lipinski, managing accomplice of Emergent. “The mission economics and manufacturing numbers are fairly exceptional, and this might be an awesome funding for our farm consumer.”
The Reslers are a Boilermaker household. Kraig’s son, Tyler, can also be an alumnus of Purdue’s Faculty of Agriculture and works on the household farm, which is in Mishawaka, Indiana, simply east of South Bend. Kraig’s two daughters are undergraduate college students at Purdue.
Resler labored with Emergent Photo voltaic Vitality, headquartered at Purdue Analysis Basis’s Purdue Analysis Park of West Lafayette.
The work aligns with Purdue’s Large Leaps celebration, celebrating the college’s world developments in sustainability as a part of Purdue’s one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. Sustainability, together with by way of vitality conservation, is among the 4 themes of the yearlong celebration’s Concepts Pageant, designed to showcase Purdue as an mental middle fixing real-world points.
About Purdue Analysis Basis
The Purdue Analysis Basis is a non-public, nonprofit basis created to advance the mission of Purdue College. Established in 1930, the muse accepts items; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue’s mental property; and promotes entrepreneurial actions on behalf of Purdue. The muse manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Workplace of Expertise Commercialization, Purdue Analysis Park and Purdue Expertise Facilities. The muse acquired the 2016 Innovation and Financial Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Affiliation of Public and Land-grant Universities. For extra details about funding and funding alternatives in startups based mostly on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.
About Emergent Photo voltaic Vitality
Emergent Photo voltaic Vitality is among the main business photo voltaic development companies within the state of Indiana. Headquartered at Purdue Analysis Park, in West Lafayette, Indiana, the corporate offers photo voltaic options to the business and industrial, municipal and agricultural sectors throughout the state of Indiana. Emergent Photo voltaic seeks to carry renewable vitality to the communities it serves and to assist organizations acquire vitality independence whereas attaining their sustainability and stewardship objectives.
Supply: Jeremy Lipinski, 765-753-9155, jeremy@emergentsolar.vitality
