Tuesday, September 08, 2009 at 11:01:03 AM - by Nate Lew

In Monterey, California, the same sun that ripens Gonzales Winery grapes now powers a 1-megawatt solar photovoltaic energy system, which in turn powers at least half the electrical needs of the winery.

Gonzales Winery is owned by Constellation Wines U.S., the world’s largest maker of wines by volume, and the 1-megawatt system isn’t Constellation’s first foray into sustainable energy. In Canada, Constellation’s Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin wineries in southern Ontario have partnered with Vandermeer Greenhouses to turn grape pomace (the leftover solid matter) into electrical energy via biomass. In the U.K., a new bottling facility will reduce resource use of glass by bottling on-site, which will also reduce Constellation’s transportation footprint.

And in Australia, Constellation’s Banrock Station vineyards rely on subsurface irrigation to reduce evaporation of precious water during Australia’s most persistent drought.

In Monterey, the solar array at Gonzales, installed and operated by Auburn-based full-service solar firm Pacific Power Management LLC (PPM), delivers more than 1,700,000 kilowatt-hours of power to the winery on a long-term Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA. The electrical generation, via 6,358 solar panels and two inverters, not only runs half the winery’s mechanical operations, but reduces the facility’s yearly greenhouse gas emission’s footprint by 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 1,636 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 2,909 pounds of nitrous oxide.

The system’s electrical output and emission’s reduction is monitored by PPM’s proprietary, real-time monitoring system called SolarWatch. The racking system is also a PPM product, made of aluminum to accommodate PPM’s chosen solar panels.

The 1-megawatt system, enough to power 800 homes, is far and away the world’s largest winery installation, beating out Jarvis Wines (Napa Valley, with a 107-kilowatt system, which makes it a net-zero winery); Far Niente, with its 1,300 solar panels, 1,000 of them floating; Grgich Hills with its 170-kilowatt system; Merryvale Vineyards, with its 277-kilowatt system; Rodney Strong Vineyards in Sonoma County, where a 766-kilowatt system, comprised of 4,032 panels, is a close competitor for Gonzales; as is Fetzer Vineyards 899-kilowatt system of 4,300 panels; the Peju Province winery (126 kilowatts); Cline Cellars 411 kilowatts; St. Francis Winery’s 457 kilowatts; Quivira Vineyards rather small 55-kilowatt system; Shafer Vineyards 34-kilowatt system by GE; and Foster Wine Estates’ installations at various vineyards for a grand total of 2.8 megawatts, which would actually top Gonzales’ system if assembled in one location.

The Gonzales Winery installation will have its dedication ceremony in the fall of 2009, placing it firmly front and center of a growing coterie of vintners who see the true value in the sun, not only for ripening grapes but for producing clean, renewable solar energy.