The driving force behind the decision to go solar, was that energy was our highest operating cost on the farm. We were spending over $300,000 each year on diesel to run groundwater irrigation bores used to water our summer crops.

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We engaged ReAqua, for installation as they were the only company who had expertise in both pumping and solar. The bespoke 500kW solar diesel hybrid pump was launched in 2018 to high levels of media and community interest. While the first year went well, the system started having issues with blending solar and diesel at the scale we were working at.

 

There are still bugs and ReAqua are still trying to find a solution, meaning we have not been able to use the pump much since 2020, illustrating the high risk that early adopters such as ourselves take on, so that others can learn from our mistakes. It's important these stories are still shared as we learn and grow as an industry hence at the National Renewables in Agriculture Conference, the learnings are just as welcomed as the success stories.

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The potential environmental benefits of systems like ours are significant and exciting, with 500 tonnes of CO2 no longer entering the atmosphere each year if solar is used rather than diesel. 

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