About Tipperary Boutique Distillery
This Solar Case Study examines Tipperary Boutique Distillery’s journey installing a Solar PV system.
Jennifer Nickerson, Stuart Nickerson and Liam Ahearn founded Tipperary Boutique Distillery Limited in 2014. Having spent the past few years releasing independently bottled single malt Irish whiskeys, they are now ready to release their first homegrown, single estate Single Malt Irish whiskey.
With their new distillery now creating spirit from their home-grown barley, the stage is set for even more world class Irish whiskey.
Jennifer oversees the daily management of Tipperary Boutique Distillery and spoke with us recently about how installing Solar PV Panels on their distillery helped drastically reduce their energy bills. The price of electricity had went so high that they had to switch to distilling their whiskey at night time to avail of the cheaper unit rate of electricity. Solar PV Panels have allowed them to switch back to working days!
In 2020, Jennifer worked with the team to oversee the construction of Tipperary’s first distillery in more than 150 years.
The Solar PV System Project
Solarco installed a rooftop Solar PV System at Tipperary Boutique Distillery, to meet the distillery’s electricity demand. Half the panels were erected in an east facing roof and half the panels were on the west facing roof. Overall 100 panels were used in this project.
50 kW of Solar PV Panels were erected with a 50kW Solis inverter. The electricity is mainly used for the distilling process as the stills are electrically heated to produce whiskey. They use about a 1,000 kwh per day.
The 50kW Solar PV System will produce around 37,496kwh of free electricity per annum for the distillery.
This results in savings of €13,000 per annum (at current unit cost).
About Solarco
Solarco has unrivalled experience in the sector. We are a 100% Irish owned, family run business with its foundations born out of the 1970’s oil and energy crisis. 50 years on, we are passionate about the role renewables can play in de-carbonising electricity and heat. Solarco by Woodco is one of Ireland’s leading providers of Commercial Solar PV Systems. We help companies futureproof their businesses and make huge savings on electricity bill by generating free, clean electricity.
Solarco is an award winning business, with a dedicated team based in Tipperary, Ireland. Receiving awards for innovation, Green Awards and Environmental awards, Woodco and Solarco are recognised approved installers by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Department of Agriculture. We are proud of the role our team plays in Ireland’s energy transition.
