Goat Lady Dairy
Looking to the Sun for Relief from High Energy Costs
The Goat Lady Dairy is located on lovely, rolling hills south of Greensboro, North Carolina. For almost 10 years, Steve Tate and his family have been raising goats and producing handmade farmstead cheese. With the milk from their herd of 60 goats and some additional milk purchased from other goat operations, Goat Lady Dairy produces 400-600 lbs of cheese each week from March to December.
In the winter months, just before kidding season, the Tates get a break from milking and making cheese. But Steve Tate is already thinking about next season’s operations. He is about to install a solar thermal system that will provide much of the hot water needed to clean the milking parlor, milk bulk tank, and all the cheese room equipment. “We are committed to nurturing the land and operating our business based on principles of sustainable agriculture,” said Tate, “so looking to the sun as a source of energy seemed natural. But in this case, we will also have significant savings from greatly reducing our use of propane to heat our water.”
Goat Lady Dairy
The solar hot water system at the Goat Lady Dairy will consist of five 4’x10’ panels mounted on the south facing roof of the barn. With the help of a small pump, the system circulates water through the solar panels where it absorbs the heat from the sun. The solar-heated water is stored in a 300 gallon drainback storage tank. The incoming cold water then flows through a heat exchanger in the storage tank where it is pre-heated with the free solar energy before it flows into the propane-fired hot water tank to be used as needed. Steve Tate expects that the hot water temperature for their operations will easily exceed 150 degrees F and that the propane-fired hot water heater will mainly function as a back-up on cloudy days.
While the reduction in energy costs is attractive in itself, current Federal and State support for renewable energy has helped to greatly improve the economics. The Goat Lady Dairy solar thermal system will cost $10,000, fully installed. The Tates applied for, and received, a Federal Farm Bill grant for $2,500. Beginning January 1, 2006 (and effective through December 31, 2007) a 30% Federal tax credit is in effect for solar systems. In addition, businesses that install solar systems for their operations can depreciate them over 5 years. Furthermore, North Carolina provides a 35% corporate tax credit on the cost of the installation that can be taken in equal amounts over 5 years. Add it all up, and the $10,000 solar thermal system is costing Steve Tate less than $1,500. “The cost of propane has gone up 25% since last year,” Tate says. “At this level of fuel prices this system will pay for itself in less than 2 years!”
Goat Lady Dairy: www.goatladydairy.com
Evergreen Energy Company, installers of the solar thermal system at Goat Lady Diary, can be reached at: solar@triad.rr.com