Category: Idaho Solar

One of the biggest challenges for for most dairy farmers in the Magic Valley is to chill the fresh milk in the holding tank as quickly and as gently as possible. Doing so maximizes the milk-fat percent in the saleable milk.  This is hopefully accomplished with an energy-efficient chiller which then captures the heat offset using free heaters to pre-heat the water for process clean-up.  The next opportunity is heating the rest of the process water which needs to be 180 degrees for clean-ups.

Renewable Energy NorthWest, LLC (RENW) of Star, Idaho and Progressive Dairy Service (PDS) of Jerome, Idaho recently partnered together to tackle these issues in a collaborative method at the Dairy Farm of William Bokma in Twin Falls, Idaho..  PDS is in the process of installing new Mueller chillers and compressors at the Bokma Dairy  and are expected to save the operation $2,500 per year in energy costs over the current system.  The big gain on the new chilling system comes in the improvement in the milk-fat percentage in the milk. The project expects to improve the milk-fat percentage by 15%.   A new free heater is also being installed to capture the heat that is generated in the chilling process.

Renewable Energy NorthWest just completed their portion of this project by installing 20 – 30 tube evacuated panels. The new panels are  expected to generate 1,000 gallons of 180 degree water on a daily basis.  During the commissioning period and after some modifications on the current water flow process, the milk tank wash down hit 158 degrees. The usual tank washes were 140 degrees.  The 158 degree wash was accomplished with free energy from the sun.  Each solar thermal panel offsets approximately three tons of carbon each year of production.   The expected life of the system is twenty years or offsetting 1,200 tons of carbon.

This Renewable Energy Solution project is funded in part by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).  The expected payback on the project including all the equipment discussed in this article – is less than six months after grants and incentives.   The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) in Twin Falls, Idaho  was represented in the project with three students and two  faculty members from the Renewable Energy Program.  The students and faculty members were able to see, assist and learn that this program provides the best return value on investment for available renewable energy products.  One of the students commented,  “It’s good to get some hands-on experience with this product.”

 

The chillers were just installed and initially we are seeing great results.  Prior to the project the milk would enter the holding tanks at 84 degrees.   The milk is now entering at 37 degrees.  We are all excited to see the improvement gains for this project. 

Three Rivers Calf Farm in Parma, ID raises 10,000 heifer calves for the dairy industry.  The calves start out being bottle fed with pasteurized hospital milk from dairies and topped off with dry milk mixed with hot water.  The calves are fed twice daily with each calf consuming 2 gallons of 100 degree milk each day.  The operations center is also heated with radiant floor heating.   The calf farm maintains the cleanliness of the operations by washing equipment with 170 degree water.

The solar thermal farm consists of 80 – 30 tube panels generating 4,000 gallons of 170 degree water each day.  This equates to 4 million BTU’s of energy created from the suns radiation.

This project was  fortunate to receive a USDA REAP grant for 25% of the cost of the project.  The project included 2- 1500 gallon insulated tanks for hot water storage, 2 1.5 million BTU/hr boilers, radiant floor heating and the solar thermal farm.

The project is operating as designed and the farm has seen significant reduction in the consumption of propane.

 

We just completed a 30 panel mystic system to heat the process clean up water for a dairy.  The system will produce 1000 gallons of 165 degree water on a daily basis.  An on demand electric point of use water heater was also installed as a back up for the solar system.  The system is operating well and creating energy even in  the toughest time of the year – December/January radiation levels from the sun.

The payback on the system is guaranteed to be less than 2 years.  The installation was completed in two weeks.

The process water is used to clean up after each milk run and to keep the process clean and sanitized.  This install was assisted with grants from the USDA Rural Development and the US Treasury 1603 Grant.

 

 

This install we completed last year in Idaho City, Idaho.  The install includes 2 Mystic panels mounted vertically on the outside of the garage.  The system is designed to provide hot water and any additional energy to be dissapated in the water to air heat exchanger in the furnace.  The comments below are from the customer.

“We installed our solar heating system just before Memorial Day, and cannot be happier with it! Our dual Mystic panel design provides nearly 100% of our water heating, and in the winter, it will also heat the house air. What a joy to watch the sun come up and know that we have a carbon-free (and dollar-free and hassle-free) source of heat. It is hard to understand why these systems are not on more homes and businesses because the payback is so quick. Neighbors have repeatedly commented on the nice look and clean design of our system. Carl and his team have been very responsive to our questions and custom design ideas — we highly recommend them to others considering a solar water heating system. If circumstances ever require us to move from our current house, we will definitely plan to install a Mystic system to our next place. The system paid for itself in 13 months.” -KC Idaho City, ID

I just completed my first install in Idaho on a “net zero” home.  I am very excited to participate in this project.  Imagine no utility bills on your home “FOREVER”, kind of nice though.  This home accomplishes that goal.  It is a beautiful functional home that used passive solar for some of the winter heating.  The home is insulated very well R50 in the ceilings and R30+ in the walls.

We installed a Mystic unit on s standing seam roof.  The system has a solar storage tank and is also using our solar controller to increase the efficiency of the system.

I hope that we are able to assist on many more of these homes in the coming years.  I am use to dealing with and personally enjoying free hot water but, I am envious of no utility bills.  Maybe on my next home!