The challenges of small-scale organic farming have been mounting in recent years. Land prices and operational costs are on the rise making it difficult for organic farms to compete with the prices of their large-scale competitors.
That’s why BeetBox Co-op Farm installed solar panels as a sustainable solution.
Through grants from Student Energy, a program to support students working toward a career in the energy sector, Sonia Vinogradova and Joe Workentin obtained fully-funded solar panels to install on the Nepean farm.
After meeting at the University of Ottawa, the two environmental sustainability master’s students connected with BeetBox through Student Energy’s guided projects program.
Viongradova said installing solar panels was a tangible way for the farm to take climate action.
“It can be easy to be a little hopeless in the face of environmental issues,” she said.
“There is an appetite for change and people like when change happens, but they don’t really like to be the spearheaders of that change.”
However, the process wasn’t quite as seamless as they would’ve liked. They worked with contractors and electricians to determine necessary farm upgrades and accommodate installations. They also needed to speak with the National Capital Commission and Hydro Ottawa to get the green light on the upgrades.
“The regulatory process is certainly cumbersome and difficult to navigate,” Workentin said.
Despite the regulatory checks and balances, BeetBox’s new solar panels are set to provide more than just a climate-friendly energy source.
“There is a lot of economic benefit,” Workentin said. “What impedes people is the initial start-up cost.”
He said the solar panels have a lifespan of around 25 years, and the farm will see $35,000 in returns with the help of grants.
Vinogradova said small-scale, non-industrial farms like BeetBox require the same equipment as larger-scale farms, but they produce lower outputs.
“If we want our food produced in Canada … then we need to be supporting and finding ways for farms of this size to be lowering their operational costs and ensuring their long-term financial sustainability,” she said.
Angela Plant, one of BeetBox’s four owners, said they are working on “thin margins” like many other small-scale farms. Plant added that creating their own clean energy through solar will help ease operational costs.
She said the appeal to transition to solar energy has been around for years, but it wasn’t financially possible until grants became available to fund the project.
There are plenty of other ballooning expenses to operate the farm aside from energy, Plant said.
She said the newly acquired solar energy will help offset operational costs and also help convert their heating to electric from the expensive propane alternative.
Vinogradova and Workentin hosted a Solar Showcase event on Nov. 7 to unveil the new solar panels.
Todd MacArthur works for solar installation company Execon, which installed BeetBox’s solar panels. He said while hydro and nuclear will never be fully replaced, he sees a “mass adoption” of solar energy in the future due to an increasing strain on energy supply.
“The electricity grid needs more sources of power,” he said.
MacArthur said solar “makes good business sense” now that prices for renewable energies have decreased significantly in the past 20 years and there are more experts in the field. According to a report from solar installation company Gridworks Energy, solar prices have decreased by 90 per cent in the last decade.
“It basically makes power more affordable for everyone when done right,” MacArthur said.
Vinogradova and Workentin helped BeetBox with their energy goals, but they have their sights set on boosting solar adoption elsewhere.
Under their grants provided by Student Energy, they started a company called Spark Source Consulting. They said the company will pursue more projects with “direct impact” on lowering carbon emissions.
Taking what they’ve learned about solar panels from the farm along with their policy expertise from school, Vinogradova said it makes them a “powerhouse team.”
“This is our proof that we can do it,” she said.
Featured Image by Jack Klinck/the Charlatan.
