Winery takes lead in solar energy

By KARL KLOOSTER

Of the News-Register

If there were a poster child for the green movement in Oregon, it would be the state's wine industry.

Adding to the preponderance of evidence supporting that argument is a recent announcement by one of its highest profile members.

Domaine Drouhin Oregon has just brought a 94.5-kilowatt solar energy system online, dwarfing anything previously put in place. And that's saying something for an industry already widely praised for its commitment to environmental sustainability.

The ground-mounted system consists of more than 500 state-of-the-art photovoltaic panels mounted on a prime, southwest-facing hill just off Breyman Orchards Road in the heart of the Dundee Hills.

The only major French wine concern to establish a vineyard and winery in Oregon, Maison Joseph Drouhin of Burgundy has shown its confidence in this area's future as one of the world's great wine-producing regions.

The company built a cutting-edge, gravity-fed winemaking facility in the late 1980s, establishing a model for all that have followed. And its latest commitment to energy conservation adds to that legacy.

Tanner Creek Energy of Portland designed and installed the system. The same company installed a 50-kilowatt system for Lemelson Vineyards and a 31-kilowatt roof-mounted system for Stoller Vineyards' Gold LEED-certified facility.

"We chose Tanner Creek because of their excellent previous work and their efforts to have this make sense for a winery, both financially and in terms of our relationship with the land and the environment," said David Millman, Domaine Drouhin's managing director.

Alan Hickenbottom, Tanner Creek's founder and principal, compared the Willamette Valley to Germany, where a huge investment in solar energy has been made. Currently, over half of the world's solar energy is generated there.

"The Willamette Valley gets as much solar radiation as Germany's best locations," he said. "Solar works here.

"Not only that, the system has few moving parts, which means low maintenance. An installation can last 15 to 20 years before replacement is required."

Thus far, Tanner Creek has installed nearly 500 kilowatts of solar capacity in Oregon.

When a system produces more electricity than the owner/user needs, that excess is returned to the grid.

The company works with clients to help leverage such benefits.

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