A long, low grain store whose drying fans now run on a ground array in the paddock next door.
The brief
Grain drying in August and September draws heavy power for weeks at a time, right when the sun is strongest.
What we fitted
One hundred and seventy-six panels on a ground-mounted east-west frame in the paddock beside the store, two 40 kW inverters and a 40 kWh battery for evening drying.
Twelve months on
Drying costs fell by about €9,000 in the first harvest. The east-west layout spreads generation across the working day.
Field plate · STC
Pmax · rated output
75.2
kWp
Panels
176 × 400 W
Battery
40 kWh
Yield / yr
67,680 kWh
Payback
6.1 yrs
CO₂ saved
22.3 t/yr
Roof
Ground
Switched on
Aug 22, 2023
Want a plate like this for your roof?
17:05
On the roof
18:30
In their words
They put the array on a field corner we never used and had the dryer running off it by harvest. Clean job, no fuss with the planners.
Brian Ahern
Midleton