Levengood, whose family has operated Manatawny Creek Winery since 1991, is an early adapter. In March 2007, he installed 64 solar panels on the roof of a 1,000 square foot barrel storage area at his Amity Township operation. The 11-kilowatt system now supplies approxmiately 30 percent of the winerys electricity and even sells excess power to the local grid, significantly reducing utility costs.
The winery owners, whose family has farmed the banks of the Manatawny Creek for a century, defrayed the cost of the solar installation through a $20,000 grant from the state to encourage agricultural energy conservation. Early bugs have been worked out, says Levengood, and recent changes in utility regulations have increased the financial feasibility of the venture for local customers of Met Ed.
“Its a better deal than it used to be,” explains the former chemical engineer. “In 2006, the rules changed to net metering. The kilowatts we sell back to the grid are deducted from the kilowatts we use, so the values are equal.” Conergy USA, successor to the firm that installed the system, brokers its sale of additional power to utilities.
Power companies are now required by law to increase their percentage of renewable sources each year, and so are encouraging customers like Manatawny to generate power. As a result, the winery produces about 12,000 gallons (5,000 cases) of wine and 12,000 KW hours of electricity each year.
An that name? Manatawny is a Native American term for “the place we meet to drink”–an apt location for the winery’s tasting room.
Source: Darvin Levengood
Writer: Chris O’Toole