Solar for Agriculture by GreenVolts
SustainableBusiness
GreenVolts, which has raised $120 million to commercialize its concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology, is setting its sights on the agriculture industry.
Using solar energy for agriculture is a large, untapped opportunity, they say. Agricultural businesses, which have plenty of land and sun, are ideal for solar, and are very interested in lowering their electricity costs, which can exceed 20% of production costs.
Greenvolts will partner with Independent Solar Developers, which specializes in turnkey solar systems for southern California agricultural applications.
The partners will offer turnkey systems that includes energy analysis, load patterns, operations, maintenance and financing, which is the primary barrier for most projects. They’ve developed tailored solutions for irrigation, cattle, food processing, and other agricultural applications.
The modular design can be configured for distributed loads, such as irrigation pumps located on different parcels of land, or scaled up to meet higher demand, such as refrigeration in the processing of vegetables. ISIS, the energy management software included with the system, allows remote monitoring and management of all the systems from anywhere on the Internet.
Original Article on SustainableBusiness.com
Online since 1996, we provide global news and networking services to help green business grow. We cover all green business sectors including renewable energy, green building and green investing. Services include: Daily Green Business and Green Investor News; our leading green jobs service, Green Dream Jobs, a hands-on green investing newsletter, Progressive Investor; and networking services for green businesses that seek capital and partners.