Companies are going solar 

Hawaii’s Kona Brewing Company is tapping the power of renewable energy to let their customers tap into its beer. They’re installing a solar-plus-storage installation with that cranks out almost 7,000 cans of ‘Liquid Aloha’ per hour.
 

Kona Brewing Company signing a 20-year power purchase agreement

The installation is funded by energy companies with Kona Brewing Company signing a 20-year power purchase agreement. This pledges their commitment in buying all of  power made by the solar-plus-storage system at the new KBC brewery that’s  under construction in Kailua-Kona. The solar plus storage installation brings  versatility and scalability that’s ideal for this facility. The savings and revenue streams from this equipment can potential decrease the payback period. “Since it formed over 20 years ago, Kona Brewing has been committed to making locally brewed beers in an environmentally responsible way,” said Julia Person, sustainability manager of Kona Brewing. “By partnering with Holu, we are working with another Hawaiian business to reduce our imported fossil fuel use and create on-site solar energy that helps the state meet its renewable energy goals. This partnership demonstrates how we embrace innovation to maintain our commitment to the ‘Aloha spirit’ and the larger Hawaiian community.” This also gives their customers an enlightening perspective of clean energy. 

The new installation pairs 336 kilowatts of roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and an EnSync DER SuperModule that includes a 122 kilowatt-hour energy storage system to store power at night. A Matrix™ Energy Management system applies  its  DER FlexTM ‘Internet of Energy’ technology to keep energy flowing to the brewery for the lowest price. Power could be used directly from the panels, storage or from the grid. This solely depends on what the most cost effective option is at the time.
 

Benefits both the local utility and Kona Brewing​​​​​​​
 
With a large rooftop solar system, it only meets around 25% of the brewery’s clean energy electricity needs. “This installation offers Kona Brewing a fully integrated reneweable energy resource to meet its dual goals of using clean energy and reducing energy costs, which in Hawaii are the highest in the nation,” said Ted Peck, president of Holu Energy. “Integrating energy storage with PV will help the brewery reduce expensive peak demand charges, add resiliency and provide grid services, which benefits both the local utility and Kona Brewing.” These hybrid solar-plus-storage intelligent controllers let customers participate in the growing demand response programs that allow utility customers to earn additional revenue by decreasing  signals from the grid. Kona Brewing Company can now retrieve energy from its stationary energy storage instead of the grid. The new brewery is being built and will be open in early 2019.

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