Cline Cellars, a North California-based wine company, has announced the completion of its new solar electric system. Designed and built by SolarCraft Services, the system will provide 100% of Cline's annual electricity needs for its Carneros production facility.
SolarCraft designed a lightweight aluminum mounting structure that works well with the structural capacity of the winery’s steel warehouse and fermentation buildings, while giving the panels a slight tilt directly south.
The winery’s roof is roughly 50,000-square-feet and now supports just under two thousand Sharp solar panels. The high capacity solar panels will generate roughly 411 kilowatts, providing 100% of the winery’s annual energy consumption.
The current state and federal incentives make solar electric systems a viable investment for all types of businesses, said Chris Bunas, director of SolarCraft’s PV Systems division. With energy costs skyrocketing, companies like Cline Cellars are now looking for ways to reduce and set their facility operations expenses for the long term.