Power play

© Vaclav Volrab | Dreamstime.com

There are a number of ways to keep rising energy costs from nibbling away your profits. Some are simple and can be implemented in a matter of days. Others are more complex and require a significant investment on the front end.

Let’s examine one of the easiest options first – lighting.

Lighting is one of the easiest and most cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades that can be made at your growing operation. The Connecticut Farm Energy Program explains lighting choices and their benefits.

The T-5 and T-8 both deliver less noise, more light per watt, better color rendering, no flickering, cooler operation, and most importantly, electric cost savings. Today’s 1-inch T-8 bulbs and 5/8-inch T-5 bulbs and corresponding electronic ballasts replaces the traditional T-12 bulbs.

T-5 bulbs are mainly used in commercial applications, as they have higher initial investment costs in terms of their fixtures and bulbs. Because the T-5 is currently offered in metric dimensions, it is ideal for new installs as opposed to retrofits.

T-8s are natural replacements for the older style T-12s. The switch out requires that both the old magnetic ballast and the old T-12 bulb be replaced at the same time by the modern electronic ballast and the new T-8 bulb.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) deliver the same lighting level, but use only 1/3 the amount of electricity of incandescent bulbs. A ballast modifies electricity for use by the fluorescent tube. Modular CFLs have two separate parts. The lamp or tube snaps into the base. Because the base can last up to four times longer than a typical tube, modular units let you replace only the part that fails first.

While replacement costs for CFLs are somewhat higher than for incandescent lamps, their rated lamp life is usually 10 times longer.

Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lights (CCFL) are 10–30 percent more efficient than CFLs. The voltage of CCFLs is about 5 times higher than CFLs, while the current is 10 times lower. The lifetime of CCFLs is about 50,000 hours.

The real advantages of CCFLs are seen in comparison to incandescent lights. CCFLs can operate using as much as 65–80 percent less energy than comparable incandescent lamps and last up to 25 times longer. They are UL listed for indoor and outdoor use and are also fully dimmable. The bulbs also fit into incandescent sockets, making upgrades from incandescent bulbs as simple as changing a light bulb.

High Pressure Sodium Lighting (HPS) is an excellent choice for exterior areas. These yellowish lights are also suitable for indoor areas where color rendition is not important. High pressure sodium lights are long lasting with an expected life of about 24,000 burning hours or six years for photo-controlled fixtures. High Pressure Sodium lights are more energy efficient and produce more light per watt than Mercury Vapor Lights (MV). A smaller wattage HPS bulb will produce as much as, if not more light (measured in lumens) than a larger wattage MV bulb.

Nursery upgrades
Blooming Nursery in Cornelius, Ore., implemented lighting upgrades throughout the nursery, which includes a 40,000-square-foot propagation greenhouse, 60,000 square feet of heated greenhouses and 150,000 square feet of cool greenhouses and cold frames. The nursery made the lighting upgrades with the help of the Climate Friendly Nurseries Project. The project started with an energy audit by Energy Trust of Oregon, which wrote up a detailed lighting analysis.

“It was enlightening to see the kind of money we were leaving on the table due to our legacy lighting systems,” said Michael Wisshack, general manager at Blooming Nursery. The nursery replaced 40 T-12 lights with T-8 lights. It also replaced 13 metal halide lamps with 6-bulb T-8 fixtures, cutting electricity use in half in those areas.

Alternative energy
There are several choices when it comes to alternative energy sources. Wind and solar may come to mind first, but there are other sources available to growers. Alternative energy requires a sizeable capital investment. Before you investigate these options, make sure your operation is as efficient as possible.

Wind power. Wind turbines harness air currents and convert them to emissions-free power. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy from wind into mechanical power that runs a generator. Plentiful and inexhaustible in the United States and around the world, wind power is one of the fastest growing renewable technologies.

Solar power. Solar energy is a vast and inexhaustible resource. Just 20 days of sunshine contains more energy than the world’s entire supply of coal, oil and natural gas. A range of technologies is used to convert the sun’s energy into electricity, including solar collectors and photovoltaic panels.
Check out the Solar Energy Industries Association for details on this type of power at www.seia.org.

Biomass. Biomass—plant material and animal waste—is one of the oldest sources of renewable energy, used since our ancestors learned the secret of fire. Now we have the technology to efficiently convert it to electricity. Common biomass types include wood, paper, yard clippings, agricultural residues, switch grass and animal waste.
Learn more about biomass from the Department of Energy at www1.eere.energy.gov/bioenergy.

Geothermal. Heat from the earth can be used as an energy source in many ways, from large and complex power stations to small and relatively simple residential pumping systems. At the nursery, the most common geothermal technology is using a geothermal heat pump to heat or cool spaces. Unlike wind or solar, which are largely dependent on temperature and climate, the temperature a few feet below the earth’s surface is relatively constant despite major fluctuations in the air temperature.
Look to the DOE for more information at http://energy.gov/science-innovation/energy-sources/renewable-energy/geothermal.

Midwest Groundcovers chooses solar
Three years ago, Midwest Groundcovers formed a group charged with researching fuel and energy use for the future. The group examined different forms of energy production, including geothermal heat, wind power, solar for electric and heat, and growing miscanthus to burn for fuel. The group presented its findings to the nursery leadership in October 2009. Geothermal and wind power were cost prohibitive. But solar was a viable option when Realgy LLC, an alternative energy service supplier in Illinois, asked Midwest to be a test-site for a photovoltaic (PV) system. Realgy funded the project and built a PV system on the roof a maintenance building at Midwest’s St. Charles, Ill., location. The system was designed to produce more than 48,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy annually and more than 1 million kWh during the next 25 years. The environmental benefits associated with the system will offset nearly 900,000 pounds of carbon dioxide over the initial 25 years of operation.

Currently the system powers Midwest’s maintenance building (approximately 60 feet x 200 feet), which houses the grower’s main shop, paint shop, repair area, lunchroom and restrooms, said Stan Schumacher, vice president of Midwest Groundcovers.

The roof on the south side of the building is about 70 percent covered with PV panels with room to add more panels in the future, he said.

“The maintenance building is located next to our headquarters building. Our goal is to eventually run lines from the maintenance building to our headquarters to power some low-voltage equipment,” he said.

The company is considering adding a PV system at its Virgil, Ill., location.

For growers considering alternative energy systems, Schumacher suggests looking for grants and tax credits. And for those considering solar, ask energy companies about cost sharing, he added.

Mahoney Farm harnesses wind
When Stephen Mahoney considered a wind turbine to power part of his nursery, the idea was met with some controversy.

His nursery, Mahoney Farm, is surrounded by multimillion-dollar homes in East Hampton, N.Y. There were three public meetings regarding the installation and of the 60 or so people in attendance, half were for it and half were against it, he said.

“We were the first in our town to put up a wind turbine,” Mahoney said. “I knew I’d be in for a fight.”

Mahoney thought aesthetics would be his neighbors’ biggest concern, but instead it was noise.

“I was surprised by that. But it’s a quiet system,” he said.

Mahoney installed a 10kW turbine from Bergey. It powers the nursery’s irrigation system, barn lights, parts of the office and electric utility carts.

“It’s matched to our electrical needs. We converted to drip irrigation at the same time we installed the turbine,” he said. “The irrigation system uses most of the juice supplied by the turbine.”

This year was his third growing season using wind power. And thanks to a grant from the USDA, tax credits and rebates from the utility company, his payback from his investment is about three years.

“My accountant called it a no-brainer,” he said.

But without the grants and other incentives, the payback for the turbine would have been between six and eight years.

The turbine is on a 120-foot tower and it’s located 200 feet from Mahoney’s home.

It’s survived two hurricanes and doesn’t require much maintenance, he said.

“There’s tape on the blades that is supposed to last 10 years, but that’s not the case here. We’re not exactly sure why.” NM