Otterburne family has no regrets switching to solar

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This article was published 01/03/2021 (1602 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A southeast dairy farmer who took a big risk back in 2017 when he went all in on solar power said if he had the chance to do it all over again, he wouldn’t do anything differently.

Father and son Hans and Albert Gorter own Optimist Holsteins dairy farm just west of Otterburne, a 1,000-acre farm that milks more than 150 cows.

In August of 2017, Hans and Albert moved forward with a huge and expensive project installing a massive solar panel system on the farm consisting of 70 two-cell photovoltaic panels, each measuring about 6 feet by 3 feet.

The project came with the hefty price tag of $500,000, and with Manitoba Hydro putting in $175,000, that left the Gorters into it for $325,000 of their own money.

Now, almost four years later, Hans said the costs and the risks have been well worth it both for the long-term benefits to their bottom line, and to the environment.

He said that while they pay a set rate to pay back the installation, they have reduced the farm’s energy costs by around 80 percent, leading to approximately $25,000 in Hydro savings annually.

And with Hydro rates being unpredictable, Hans said the solar installation was a way to keep his energy rates locked for a very long time.

“Electricity is a production cost for 99 percent of people, but I changed it from a production cost to a capital cost,” Hans said. “I don’t know where Hydro rates are going to be in 15 years, but I know where my costs are going to be, and not a lot of people can say that.”

With the success of solar power dependent on bright sunny days, Hans said they have had no problems soaking up the sun since getting the system up and running, both in the summer and during the colder months of the year.

“Manitoba has lots of sun, it’s a great place for something like this because it’s sunny Manitoba,” Hans said. “And we had an excellent fall too this year, we had a lot of sun.”

Han’s son Albert said that with the way the system has worked so far, he hopes to have the installation pay itself back in the next 12 to 15 years, and then from there, he said they would be working with an extremely low energy bill for many years to come.

He added the farm is also saving money and time because of how maintenance-free the system is.

“It’s been great,” Albert said. “One of the benefits is that it is almost completely hands-off. In terms of what you actually have to do to keep it running.

“Once it is up and running, you can just sit back and soak up the sunshine.”

And just like his father, Albert said there are absolutely no regrets on switching to solar.

“We would do it all over again, because it’s so maintenance-free, and if you’re saving 80 percent of your hydro bill, it’s a no-brainer.”

While the low maintenance and low hydro costs have been something Albert has appreciated about the system, he added he has also appreciated how the system has allowed his business and his family to help to take care of the environment.

“We definitely are a family that is as environmentally friendly as possible,” Albert said. “As farmers, we try to reduce our carbon footprint, and try as much as possible to be carbon-neutral.”

Albert added that at 29-years-old, he believes he has a responsibility as a farmer, and as a father to look out for the health of the environment.

“It is definitely something we have to be aware of, especially at my age. We want to live in a more sustainable future and leave a more sustainable future for our kids.”

“We try to recycle our plastics we try to reuse as much as we can because with the world you gotta leave it a little better than we got it now.”

With the panels guaranteed under warranty for at least 25 years Albert also hopes that solar technology evolves even further over time.

“With the technology in 10 to 15 years, I’m really hoping we can get even more efficient panels and get smaller panels, and even get to the point where we are selling energy and becoming a producer of energy.”

Albert now hopes that as the word gets out from those who have gone to solar, more families and business owners consider making the switch.

“We’d like to see more homes and businesses putting up solar panels and even selling the energy back to Hydro, so we get to the point where Hydro doesn’t have to go out and build huge dams.

“There are so many benefits and so few downsides to this.”