Watch this video to hear more about the solar hot water installation at Barrington Brewery!
Since 1995, Barrington Brewery has been serving their own Barn Brewed Beer and food made from scratch. Barrington Brewery was the first brewery on the east coast to install a solar panel that supplies solar-heated hot water for brewing and restaurant use. Solar hot water systems capture heat from sunlight and circulate the thermal energy to a hot water tank. Solar hot water reduces the usage of traditional water heating fuels, such as oil, electricity, or propane, saving consumers money on their energy bill (Mass Clean Energy Center).
The first solar panel array installed at Barrington Brewery was designed by Chris Vreeland, P.E. of Precision Decisions. The array provided about 50% of their hot water needs, and the system paid for itself not just in natural gas savings from hot water heating, but also in electrical savings associated with reducing their air conditioning load. The hot water heater previously used by the brewery generated a lot of heat in the restaurant space that had to be air conditioned. When they replaced their old hot water heater, they were able to reduce their cooling costs and increase customer comfort.
Barrington Brewery has continued their commitment to renewables by installing a 144KW solar PVV array in 2016. This array covers 85% of the Brewery’s electricity needs. They are also finding that the marketing value of solar energy is a benefit, and have incorporated ‘solar brewed beer’ into their logo and branding.
If you are interested in switching to solar hot water, click here
