In Athens, Wisconsin, the plush inexperienced fields surrounding Stoney Acres Farm help a various farming operation, together with cattle, pigs, wheat, and natural produce. As soon as per week in the course of the summer season, third-generation farmer Tony Schultz hosts a “Pizza on the Farm” evening, promoting pies made together with his tomatoes, basil, greens, and pork. Even the pizza crust is constituted of his homegrown wheat.
Sitting on the roof of the barn as guests enter the property is a 23kW array of photo voltaic panels that energy the farm’s operations. Whereas photo voltaic initially was low on Schultz’s funding precedence checklist, it grew to become financially possible as soon as he took benefit of grants from the USDA’s Rural Power for America, or REAP, program. This federal initiative supplies grants and loans for tasks like his. REAP funded about 40% of the 2 photo voltaic installations that now present most of Stoney Acres Farms’ energy.
The panels minimize his month-to-month energy invoice from $800 to $200 or much less per thirty days, Schultz says. He’s stunned photo voltaic corporations aren’t getting the phrase out higher, however he needs fellow rural enterprise and farm homeowners to know concerning the grants. “Even if you happen to don’t care about your carbon footprint, it’s a straightforward funding,” Schultz stated. “My preliminary value has already been repaid after which some due to the REAP grants. It’s one thing that provides again.”
Harvesting vitality financial savings in rural communities
REAP is a federally funded program that gives grants and loans to assist rural companies put in all kinds of unpolluted and energy-efficient applied sciences. This system partially funds tasks that may vary from photo voltaic panels and battery storage to environment friendly greenhouse HVAC programs and produce fridges.
REAP was initially funded by way of the Farm Invoice, which allotted $50 million per 12 months to help renewable vitality and effectivity tasks for small farms and rural companies. The Inflation Discount Act of 2022 quadrupled that quantity, including $2 billion over 10 years. Farmers and rural small enterprise homeowners can now apply for grants of as much as $500,000 for vitality effectivity tasks and to $1 million for renewable vitality programs.
The REAP grants can break down monetary boundaries to renewable vitality, stated Emma Searson, a coverage & advocacy campaigner with Photo voltaic United Neighbors (SUN), a nationwide nonprofit devoted to serving to folks entry photo voltaic. SUN supplies steering and help to farmers and rural small enterprise homeowners making use of for REAP funding. “With that funding, these tasks all of the sudden make extra sense for a small farmer or rural enterprise proprietor,” Searson stated. “And it’s a robust fairness instrument. Rural areas typically have restricted entry to wash, reasonably priced vitality applied sciences, however the REAP program offers additional weight to functions from underserved rural communities.”
Past the plain monetary benefits, photo voltaic tasks can include a number of different unplanned advantages, Searson stated. Power safety and resilience are essential for farmers, who danger main losses if the ability fails throughout climate occasions. Many in rural areas additionally worth independence — producing vitality on-site aligns with their values of self-reliance. It additionally helps display environmental stewardship to prospects.
Producing vitality may also promote monetary stability, which may enable companies to take a position again of their enterprise. In some instances, it may possibly even create additional earnings by permitting them to promote energy again to the grid. When solar-hosting companies produce extra vitality than they want, the surplus electrical energy is shipped again into the ability grid to be used by others, and the companies can credit score on their utility invoice for the vitality they contributed.
For Schultz, whereas the associated fee financial savings of photo voltaic was his preliminary motivator, he’s additionally famous different sudden perks. “Persons are impressed after they see our photo voltaic panels — they’re a part of our identification,” he stated. “Our photo voltaic set up validates Stoney Acres as a sustainable household farm.”
Avoiding outages, promoting vitality again
Close to Sedona, Arizona, vintner and vineyard proprietor Eric Glomski creates wines that mirror the Verde Valley at Web page Springs Cellars. He’s additionally proud that the vineyard is now utterly powered by renewable vitality, due to photo voltaic arrays and Tesla business battery storage funded by REAP grants. The grants lined roughly 25% of the system’s value, and Glomski stated that after simply six years, the vineyard has already recouped the funding.
Power independence was an enormous motivator for the transition to photo voltaic. “The weekends are our greatest income turbines on the vineyard,” Glomski stated. “If we lose energy and want to shut for a day in the course of the excessive season, the enterprise loses virtually $15,000.” He additionally appreciates the vitality flexibility — the batteries enable him to retailer vitality to make use of throughout peak hours when charges are excessive, and the vineyard typically sells vitality again to the grid.
Essentially the most tangible advantages of the photo voltaic implementation have been on the vineyard’s backside line, Glomski stated. But it surely’s additionally had intangible advantages for the winery’s revenues and popularity. “Individuals need to put their {dollars} with companies that take sustainability significantly,” he stated. “And we’ve gotten a lot visibility from our concentrate on renewable vitality — we’ve had newspaper and journal options, even gained awards.”
Different sudden advantages have included the elevated sense of delight that staff take within the enterprise. Glomski highlights the story of an worker who educated herself concerning the vineyard’s sustainability practices and now offers eco-tours of the vineyard to guests. “The photo voltaic panels have been an enormous a part of that,” he stated.
As Web page Springs Vineyard enjoys the advantages of the REAP program, Glomski hopes that different farmers in his area will comply with go well with. “I do know farmers who spend $30,000 [or] $40,000 a 12 months on pumping water,” he stated. “If they may use the REAP program to fund photo voltaic as their vitality supply, it might make an enormous distinction of their backside line.”
Though REAP has grow to be extra fashionable and grants extra aggressive, Searson nonetheless emphasizes that this system is a essential useful resource. “REAP is a exceptional and impactful alternative for farmers and rural small companies,” she stated. “It could make photo voltaic or different vitality effectivity tasks financially attainable. These applied sciences could make an enormous distinction for your corporation or farm in the long run.”
Photo voltaic United Neighbors (SUN) has developed a 10-week program that helps stroll farmers and rural small enterprise homeowners by way of the REAP software course of. These excited about help can be part of on-line: Prepared, Set, Photo voltaic!
