How did an Adelaide winery maximise their energy efficiency and sustainability with solar power?

Dowie Doole, a winery in Australia, is taking a step towards sustainability by committing to going organic. They have built a new cellar door with energy-efficient solar and air conditioning in mind to reduce their energy costs while being responsible. The new building is made of four shipping containers, which posed a challenge due to the limited space. The architect designed it to be symmetrical, neat, and hidden for a clean and attractive look.

The roof of the building has been installed with 39 panels, installed on a custom-made roof to optimize the angle to 30 degrees North-facing. The solar was always part of the design, with the architect building the roof on top of the container to maximize solar production. The winery also installed a smart meter to monitor energy consumption and export, giving them full data analysis, and allowing them to track their energy usage. This new building will help them achieve their organic certification and give customers peace of mind.

Dowie Doole are committing to going organic and sustainable. They're building the cellar door with energy efficient solar and air conditioning in mind, to try and reduce their energy costs and do the right thing. But also looking at putting in an electric vehicle charging station out the front area, trying to be as energy efficient and responsible. Yeah, so we were asked to try and accommodate this bit of a unique build being four shipping containers, three of them joined, one for the toilet. So we had a bit of, constraints in regards to space and size. So it was, it was a bit of a difficult to installation.

So we've got a 9.5 kilowatt ducted mid static air conditioner, and a split system in the back office. And then we've got a 10 kilowatt three-phase inverter, and the panels on the roof are 39 panels, installed on a custom made roofing to optimise the angle 30 degrees North facing, to give them the most power production possible. So, the solar was always part of the design. The architect had built the roof on top of the container to maximise the solar production. Yeah, the architect was very adamant on what he wanted. It had to be symmetrical, had to be neat because as you drive down the road, you get a good look at the panels on the roof as you come in driving up to the cellar door. Everything had to be hidden, so the inverter we've got mounted it on top of the container. All the pipes are hidden underneath the building, not visible. So yeah, we had to work with him and it managed to come up very good.