Solar-powered pivot deemed a success

    Randy Weis’ potatoes weren’t just nourished by sunshine this past summer, they were watered with sunshine, too.
    Weis planted 130 acres of potatoes on ground owned by his mother, Darlene, southeast of Holyoke this past year and used a 15-kilowatt solar array to run the pump and sprinkler motors on his center pivot system. He won’t know until January how much he saved in energy costs, but he estimates the system will pay for itself in about 15 years and then pay him back for another 15 years.
    The installation is part of Colorado State University’s Solar and Wind Assessments for Pivots, or SWAP, program from the university’s Rural Energy Center.
    Cary Weiner, REC director, was on Weis’ farm in November with CSU videographer Mark Rose and Golden Solar owner Don Parker to record comments about the first year of operation. Rose planned to edit the video taken at the site and post it online as part of CSU Extension’s outreach program.
    Weis is the first producer to follow up on program recommendations to the extent of using solar energy. Golden Solar installed 56 of the panels in a corner of Weis’ field late in 2016 at a cost of about $50,000. That included concrete pylons, racks, solar panels and wiring.
    Even with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program kicking off 25 percent, it’s still a cost of $38,000 to Weis.
 

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