Solar-powered brewery

We marked our first step towards carbon neutrality, launching our solar energy generation by serving freshly brewed beer, poured by the power of the sun.

We put a 50kW Enphase solar system on the roof of Bright Brewery’s 600 square metre venue, with 192 solar panels. The solar installation is essential to the operating an energy intensive craft brewing business.

Prior to 2017, when we operated out of just one brewery, the solar system provided enough energy to power all of our beer brewing. Now that we have expanded and moved the majority of our brewing into another facilities, our solar system produces about a third of what our entire venue at 121 Great Alpine Road consumes on a daily basis.

“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.”