The milking parlour at Fair Cape Diaries, just outside Durbanville, is the only commercial dairy farm in South Africa where milking is done off the grid during daylight hours.
A total of 2 400 cows are milked here three times a day.
The solar installation was supplied by Sola Future Energy, and Fair Cape Dairies will buy the electricity generated under a power purchase agreement.
According to Dr Chris Shaw, chairperson of Sola Future Energy, it is projected that the 99kWp array would be able to generate over 160 000kWh of energy in its first year of production, which would constitute a 16% reduction in energy consumption for the farm. In addition, it would also reduce the dairy’s CO2 emission by 147t/year.
According to Melt Loubser, CEO of Fair Cape Dairies, if the pilot project proved to be successful, solar power will be rolled out to the farm’s processing plant.
