Maine Beer Co. to offset 50 percent of energy costs with solar install

The motto of the Maine Beer Co. in Freeport, Maine, is “do what’s right.” Short, to the point and a nice ethos. Also an easy thing to say, but way harder to actually, you know, do. Well, the folks at Maine Beer Co. have invested their money where their slogan is and installed a massive new solar array to power their brewery and tasting room.

The 55.12-kW solar project will help offset the electrical bills of Maine Beer Co., which brews 13 beer varieties from its headquarters on Rt. 1 in Freeport and ships to distributors in 10 states. This solar array will offset approximately 50 percent of the brewery’s total electric energy usage.

The project incorporated American-made AllEarth Solar Trackers, which track the sun throughout the day to maximize energy production, along with a rooftop array. The ground-mounted pre-engineered solar trackers are designed for residential and commercial-scale installations and are manufactured in Williston, Vt., by AllEarth Renewables.

AllEarth Solar Trackers produce over 30 percent more energy than fix ground-mounted systems and up to 45 percent more energy than rooftop systems per kilowatt installed.

The project was installed by Assured Solar Energy, a solar design and installation company since 2006, located in North Yarmouth, Maine.

“We were excited to supply innovative, American-made solar trackers for this project, a solar solution that will produce more energy from the sun and give our customer greater long-term energy savings,” said Rob Taisey, president of Assured Solar Energy. “In addition to producing more energy to meet their electric demand, the beer company liked that the solar trackers would be a visible statement of their renewable energy commitment.”

“We are thrilled about Maine Beer Company’s commitment to going solar and that they wanted to make the statement to their customers, and get the solar energy boost, from two of our locally made solar trackers,” said David Blittersdorf, president and CEO of AllEarth Renewables.

Maine Beer Co. is definitely not the first craft brewer to install solar power and, knowing the craft brewing industry, will not be the last. For a bunch of other solar-brewing mash-up articles, click this highlighted text.