Talley Ho Dairy
Lowering Dairy Hot Water Bills with Solar Energy
In 1937, Beth Talley’s grandfather started up a diary in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Today, Mrs. Talley and her husband Rick continue the family tradition as owner-operators of the Talley Ho Dairy, raising and milking a herd of 200 Holstein cows. Each cow at the Talley Ho Diary produces about 22,000 lbs of milk a year that the Talleys sell to the Maryland Virginia Cooperative.
The operation requires the use of 300-500 gallons of hot water per day at around 145 degrees F to sanitize the milking equipment, wash the tanks, and help cut butterfat residue in the milk handling equipment. So far, Rick Talley has relied on electricity to heat his water but that is about to change. Later this spring/summer he will be installing a solar thermal system to heat the water. “The dairy business can be tough,” says Talley, “if I can save on my electric hot water bill that will be good for my business.”
The solar hot water system at the Talley Ho Dairy will consist of ten 4’x8’ panels that will be placed on the barn roof. 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 electric hot water tank to be used as needed. The solar hot water system should reach water temperatures from 140-160 degrees F, and even higher in the summer. The electric hot water heater will serve as a back-up, when needed.
“Solar hot water systems are actually pretty simple technology,” say Bill Bostic of Evergreen Energy Co. “Whether your are in Nova Scotia or North Carolina, as long as the sun shines, there is free energy available for you to harvest. If properly installed and maintained they can easily last 20-30 years. I have many such customers from the early ‘80s that have saved thousands of dollars in energy cost over the last two decades. This technology works.”
The Talley Ho Dairy’s new system fully installed costs nearly $20,000, but thanks to current Federal and State support for solar systems, Rick Talley faces much more favorable economics. With Bill Bostic’s help on the USDA 9006 renewable energy grant application, Rick Talley was able to obtain about $4,400 towards the cost of the system. Starting January 1, 2006 (and effective through December 31, 2007) a 30% Federal tax credit is in effect for solar systems. Furthermore, businesses that install solar systems for their operations can depreciate them over 5 years. And at the state-level, North Carolina provides a 35% corporate tax credit on the cost of the installation that can be taken in equal amounts over 5 years.
The final cost to the Talley Ho Dairy will be around $2,500 and Mr. Talley expects that the system will pay for itself in about 3 years.
Gabriela Martin is Clean Energy Consultant for the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago. ELPC is a Midwest-based environmental and economic development advocacy organization.
Evergreen Energy Co., installers of the solar thermal system at Talley Ho Dairy can be reached at: solar@triad.rr.com