Milford resident John Carter, civil engineer with Power Panel, Inc., explains how the new solar panel installation works Monday afternoon on top of the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, 720 Norris St. The panels will provide hot water in addition to electricity for the building.
AnnArbor.com previously reported that with the installation of nearly $345,000 worth of energy-efficient devices and systems, the Arbor Brewing Company and the Corner Brewery, became Michigan’s first solar breweries.
The Corner Brewery, located at 720 Norris St., installed solar-thermal, photovoltaic, and geo-thermal technologies along with other improvements such as new windows, awnings and energy-efficient chiller equipment.
The $95,000 Arbor Brewing Company project included a 2.4 solar photovoltaic array, 300 solar thermal collector tubes and a high efficiency tankless water heater system. They also switched to LED lighting in the facility.
The system is expected to offset gas usage by 40 to 50 percent and electricity usage by 15 to 20 percent. Construction was completed at the end of June at the Ann Arbor location at 114 E. Washington St. with the installation of a DTE net meter that will track the amount of energy being generated.
Owners Matt Greff and Renee Greff received approval Sept. 13, 2011 from Ypsilanti’s Historic District Commission to install solar panels at the Corner Brewery, which falls within the historic district of the city.
The rooftop clean energy system powering the Ypsilanti brewery is provided by Power Panel Inc. and the Greffs said it is the largest-capacity solar installation of any craft brewery East of Colorado.
Renee Greff said 90 percent of the system is up and running and she said it might be completely up tomorrow.
The system is expected to provide almost all of Corner Brewery’s hot water needs and up to 15 percent of its electricity.
This will save the brewery $20,000 a year, which nearly is 50 percent of its energy bills.
At Wednesday’s ceremony, which is taking place from 5 to 7 p.m., Congressman John Dingell is expected to speak. Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber also will be in attendance along with other city officials.
“Congressman Dingell will be there and will be making remarks on the role federal dollars play in these types of projects,” Renee Greff said.
The couple identified a number of financial resources and incentives to offset the installation costs including a $20,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, a $10,000 interest-free loan from the city, a 30 percent tax credit from the federal government and various incentives from DTE Energy.
Greff said a tour of the facility will be given and the project team will be on-hand to explain the technology and answer questions.
Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.