ATHENS, Ohio — Farmers in an eight-county region of southeast Ohio can take advantage of free solar, geothermal or bio-methane assessments through July 1, 2018.
Farmers and small businesses in Perry, Gallia, Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Morgan, Washington, and Vinton counties may be eligible to receive the assessments, once they register through UpGrade Ohio, which is managing a renewable energy program grant for the USDA.
Eligibility is based on the size of the farm and utility usage.
How it works
Contractors who provide the free assessments review the layout of a farm or agricultural operation and provide an estimated cost for upgrades or the new technology, over time.
Size neutral
Even small farmers are seeing the benefits, whether they install a system to heat their barns and greenhouses, or power dairy equipment and refrigeration units.
At Sassafras Farm in New Marshfield, Ed Perkins decided to purchase a small solar array. A small vegetable farmer, Perkins installed his first 1.8kW grid-tied, ground-mount array five or six years ago. It cost him $17,000 at the time, but after a windstorm knocked out power to his home and farm, he realized he needed a battery backup to operate for a full day on limited load. He purchased four batteries for the backup unit and installed another ground-mount array next to his existing unit last fall.
His combined total system is approximately 4kW.
Perkins also said his array is ideal for powering his Chevy Volt, an electric vehicle he says is “proudly” powered by the sun.
Powers market coolers
Neil Cherry is another Ohio farmer who sees the value of renewable energy. He powers equipment through his 14kW solar array.
Over the years, Cherry Orchards in Crooksville has been a place to find cattle and fresh apples, cider, pears, cherries, grapes, blackberries and peaches. The Cherrys also grow a variety of vegetable crops, including tomatoes, melons, peppers and pumpkins.
With a good portion of the farm devoted to marketing his fruits and vegetables, Cherry depends on reliable power to cool and store the 4000 bushels contained within two walk-in coolers.
“That electrical usage got to be very expensive,” he said. “It just made sense to capture all of that sun’s energy, plus I don’t think electric rates will be going down anytime soon.”
Cherry attended a solar seminar in Athens presented by Third Sun Solar in 2015. He toured the facility, looked at a few solar installs around town, and started to begin the process of applying for a USDA REAP grant to help pay for the system. He worked with Third Sun to apply for the grant, which paid for 25 percent of his system equipment and installation.
His array now sits on the south-facing roof of a metal pole building on Cherry’s property.
For more information on the free site assessments, visit www.upgradeohio.org/ or call 740-590-0535.
Get the details
Solar can be divided into three types: solar thermal, which converts sunlight to steam to produce power; large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV), which uses PV cells to directly produce electricity from sunlight; and small-scale solar, which are PV installations of 1 megawatt or smaller.
Learn more about UpGrade Ohio: Counties covered: Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Vinton, Washington — www.upgradeohio.org.
