From PennEnvironment
The nonprofit environmental group PennEnvironment, and local Berks County elected officials and community members, joined together at Manatawny Creek Winery for a tour of the vineyard’s solar array and to learn about the winery’s other sustainability initiatives.
“PennEnvironment is excited to highlight Pennsylvania businesses with a long-term commitment to clean energy, like Manatawny Creek Winery,” said Belle Sherwood, PennEnvironment Clean Energy Advocate. “The sun’s power is plentiful in Pennsylvania, and more businesses, schools, and homes should take advantage of clean, fast, and abundant solar energy.”
Manatawny Creek Winery was a pioneer of solar in Berks County, installing its rooftop array nearly 20 years ago in 2007. At the time, the panels offset 25-30% of the vineyard’s annual energy usage, and excess energy produced during the day was sold back to the electricity grid, helping the winery’s bottom line. As the owners are now looking to replace their solar panels, they can see firsthand how far solar technology has come in the past two decades; the same size panels today would be significantly cheaper to install, generate more energy, be more efficient, and save the winery more money on its electricity bills.
“One of the things that excited us about being able to be a partner [at the winery] was the fact that they were already like-minded. My wife and I have Oley Valley Organics … and we’ve had a produce farm for 18 years now,” said Mike Dietrich, Director of Operations at Manatawny Creek Winery. “When we found out that the winery had installed solar panels, we said to ourselves, ‘This is like a match made in heaven, these are like-minded people.’”
Power from the sun is clean, never runs out, and shows up for free, and more businesses should consider using solar panels. Harnessing more energy from the sun means cleaner air, a more stable climate, and less strain on natural resources. Plus, going solar increases energy independence and reliability and allows businesses to save money on their utility bills.
“We need to use solar more, we need to look at wind,” said State Senator Judy Schwank. “I have a bill called the Community Energy bill. A farmer can partner with a municipality, local developers, neighboring residents, or small business owners to build a community solar facility on their land. They can share in some of the energy products, and share in any profits associated with it too.”
Right now, Pennsylvania is ranked 26th in the nation for solar power. PennEnvironment encourages the legislature to get good policies, like Community Energy and other parts of the Governor’s Lightning plan, to the finish line to help Pennsylvania go from a clean energy laggard to a clean energy leader.
At the same time, Manatawny Creek Winery is a shining example of the many benefits of solar energy, and should serve as an inspiration to other small businesses across Pennsylvania to choose clean energy and do their part to protect the planet.
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