Cuvaison Estate Wines in Calistoga, Calif., has installed a solar power system designed to supply virtually all of its energy needs. The winery estimates the system will generate savings of more than $51,000 per year in electricity costs.
Cuvaison's solar power system will generate 95% of the winery's electricity needs, reducing its carbon footprint by more than 360,000 pounds of CO2 each year, equivalent to the carbon captured annually by 50 acres of forest.
According to Sunlight Electric, the San Francisco-based solar developer that designed Cuvaison's solar power system and managed its installation, Napa County wineries have adopted solar power at a rate 42 times greater than California business overall.
‘After talking to other wineries that have gone solar, we decided we wanted to be a member of that group, not unlike those who now drive hybrid cars,’ says Jay Schuppert, president of Cuvaison.
