Solar Brewing

Brewing brighter with solar power

At Bright Brewery, we’re committed to brewing delicious craft beer while also brewing a brighter future for our planet. That’s why we are thrilled to announce the commissioning of a massive 171kW solar array system at our Fred’s Shed brewing facility in Churchill Avenue, Bright.

This new addition, boasting a staggering 381 solar panels, joins our existing 50kW system, with 192 panels, at our Great Alpine Road venue, bringing our total solar capacity to 221kW.

This significant investment in renewable energy marks a major milestone in our commitment to sustainable brewing practices. During an average sunny month, these two solar array systems combine to generate an average of 800kWh of clean energy per day, meaning 60% of Fred’s Shed’s daily energy needs are supplied from clean renewable energy. This not only reduces our reliance on traditional energy sources but also helps us significantly reduce our carbon footprint.

And what about the excess solar energy that Fred’s doesn’t consume?

Thanks to a cutting-edge Virtual Energy Network (VEN), any unused solar power generated at Fred’s Shed is sent to our Brewery Door venue, further reducing our reliance on the grid. In fact, last month, our Brewery Door consumed 37% of Fred’s excess solar energy, with the remaining 63% feeding back into the grid.

We’re proud to be shining a light on renewable energy within the brewing industry, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for Bright Brewery as we continue to brew a brighter future, one sip at a time.

Prior to 2017, when we operated out of just one brewery on the Great Alpine Road, the 50kW solar system provided enough energy to power all of our beer brewing. But once we expanded and moved our brewing to Fred’s Shed, our system continued to help power the venue.

The expansion of our brewing facilities to Fred’s Shed meant we needed to expand our solar PV system to help meet our increased brewing capacity.

Daily Solar Generation/Use at Bright Brewery Venue

Currently generating 10624W of clean energy!
Lifetime Fossil fuel-free energy generated508,107.1kWh

“The advantage of this system with Enphase microinvertors is that it can be moved, added to and allows for software updates and operational maintenance to be completed instantly from anywhere in the world. That’s extremely important for us in a regional area. It saves us from any downtime waiting for technicians to come here in person for repairs if panels or the system goes offline,” Bright Brewery founder Scott Brandon said.

“We believe that sustainability should be an underpinning value of what defines a craft brewery. For us, craft brewing means really caring about how you make beer, why you’re making beer and the impact that the process and product has on your customers and surrounds, and that includes caring about your impact on the environment and the sustainable nature of your business.”

“We love being part of an industry that is very collaborative. Craft brewers tend to be some of the most supportive and sharing business owners with fellow industry members. We just need to make sure that the issue of environmental sustainability is on the table at an industry level.”

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