The dairy farms of southwest Virginia’s Washington County were struggling, and some had already lost the fight. Countiss Dairy, a 750-head farm, and third largest dairy of the county’s remaining seven, wasn’t going to be next. Still, owner Mike Countiss knew he needed to cut his farm’s overhead in order to remain viable in the increasingly competitive industry.
Countiss consulted with Pete Morenings of solar installer Ecological Energy Systems (EES), in nearby Bristol, Tennessee, and soon resolved to slash his farm’s substantial electrical costs by installing a massive solar array on his farm’s 28,500 square foot barn. EES installed the modules on the roof of the barn because the open roof structure made the barn easy to work on and provided a great space for the system. “With the way the barn’s roof is set up, it’s a natural place for solar panels and the system doesn’t take up any additional space. It just seemed like a good idea,” Countiss noted.
Exploring the alternatives, Countiss zeroed in on the advantages of a microinverter system, after hearing from several sources that it would provide steadier power than a string inverter design. Morenings himself prefers microinverter systems, which he believes make more sense in the tree-filled region: “With string inverters, if there’s any shading you lose power from the whole string.”
Mage Solar has been EES’s module manufacturer of choice for over two years. “We use MAGE because they’re privately held and financially stable, and because they emphasize quality, not just price,” said Morenings. When Morenings learned that the company had partnered with SolarBridge Technologies to offer Mage’s German-engineered, American-made Powertec Plus module with an integrated SolarBridge Pantheon II microinverter – along with a 30-year warranty on both panel and microinverter – he had no trouble convincing Countiss that it was the way to go.
The integrated microinverters, which efficiently and reliably convert the DC power produced by each module into grid-compatible AC power, made the sizeable installation a breeze, according to Morenings. “A crew of six installed all 208 panels on the barn in one day. It was a very quick and easy install.” In addition to the 208 modules, the system also includes two Power Managers mounted conveniently inside the barn. The solar array was designed with possible expansion in mind, so extra space was left on the end of the rows to accommodate the need for more modules.
Morenings said that the Mage AC modules have been consistently producing over their nameplate capacity of 238W. “Not surprisingly, all of our customers have been pleased.”
Countiss Dairy’s new solar array offsets 100% of the barn’s electrical needs. Excess production is fed back to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which gives the dairy retail credit for the excess production, and sweetens the deal with a 9 cents per kWh bonus. All in all, it’s a great return on investment in an extremely competitive environment.
Countiss expects other farms in his area to take notice – and in fact EES has already begun installing a similar size system as a revenue-generator for a nearby farm. Countiss Dairy is leading the way for Washington County to stake its claim as the land of milk and … sweet, sweet solar power.
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