A New Frontier for Agriculture: Harvesting the Sun

By Brent Harris | CTO and Co-founder, Sustainable Energy Technologies Inc. & Vice Chair/Interim Treasurer, WADE Canada

SUNERGY Inverters bring high-performance solar to remote agricultural areas.

For most, farming is a labour of love, working long hours and committing to years of hard work to cultivate the fertile soils of Canada and feed a nation.  In recent years, the rising costs of land and increasing energy costs only add to the range of rising expenses that are crushing agriculture - the backbone of Canadian industry.

Farmers have always been leaders of innovation, constantly on the hunt for new ways to improve yields and decrease costs.  Traditionally, these efforts were focused on the earth – the growing environment – but now the enticing idea of investing in a supply of free energy has many farmers turning their eyes to the skies.

With fuel and electricity expenditures forecast to rise by more than 50 percent by 2020, it is apparent solutions lie in renewable and alternative energy.  Renewable energy literally puts the power back in the hands of the farmer.  Investing in a secure supply of energy and reducing the volatility in operational costs will help decrease some of the risks faced by producers today.  One man who has decided to take personal initiative to act is John Kolk, owner of Kolk Farms Conrich Ltd., Picture Butte Alberta.

Kolk Farms has been a staple of the Alberta agricultural scene since the 1950s.  In 1989, John and his brothers Leighton and Claude - third-generation farmers – took over the business and with some restructuring, each brother has had his own farm to operate.  John manages the grains, oilseeds and custom seed production.

A steady and tireless advocate for sustainable agriculture, a land steward for biodiversity and a progressive businessman with a keen eye for market trends, John knows that the way things were is not the way they will be.  With roughly 40 percent of his 4,000 acres managed by irrigation systems, John wanted to explore an option which would keep him market savvy while reducing operational costs.

The choice to install a 10kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system on one of his irrigation plots came easily once the logistics of other technologies were considered.  Each acre of irrigation land can run up an electrical bill of up to 500kWh per acre (80,000kWh per quarter section).  With approximately 1,600 acres of irrigation land to pay for, this could wind up being close to one million kWh in an average year.  Finding a new way to power his pivots was important to John.  The Kolk’s new PV system should provide enough energy to irrigate approximately 27 acres of land during the growing season.

Mounted on a custom-built racking system with six-foot screw piles are 45 Sharp 235W modules, the system and custom racking - built and installed by Rick Dunsmore of Goose Creek Renewable Energy Inc., Blackie, AB - is powered by three 5kW SUNERGY 208V low-voltage PV inverters.  Commissioned in late June of 2010, Kolk’s system is expected to produce 13,500kWh per year.

SUNERGY inverters, manufactured by Sustainable Energy Technologies Inc of Calgary, Alberta are Canada’s only low-voltage inverter rated down to -40°C.  SUNERGY was an obvious selection for this project because of the inverters' high safety rating, industry-leading efficiencies and the ability to support a parallel system design in a commercial application.  The parallel system architecture provides resistance to partial shading from cloud cover or dust, plus it reduces mismatch losses and array degradation over the system's lifetime.

It has always been important to the Kolks to follow sound land and environmental stewardship practices, utilizing proper water management, animal production and care practices and to maintain transparency about these efforts as they are essential for the modern producer to be competitive.  John and his wife Laura have taken these prosperous business ethics into their home: a beautifully constructed hay bale home featuring a grey-water catchment facility, a solar thermal system with a capacity of approximately 10 000 BTUs and 5kWs each of solar PV and wind.

Kolk Farms Conrich Ltd. is proof that eco-agricultural is an economically viable undertaking, particularly in markets where government incentive programs are available.  John believes these measures are not only good choices but necessary ones for the producers of today - if they want to be the producers of tomorrow.