The integration of sustainability principles, from planning through to operation, is a key feature of the BRI research winery.

In its design, the research winery attempts to minimise the use of crucial resources like energy, water and raw materials.  One step in fulfilling this aim is the installation of solar panels. Harnessing the power of the sun will generate up to 30% of the research winery’s energy requirements.

Following the completion of the winery roof by Scott Construction in early December, a Marlborough-based company, iGenerate Solar, were onsite to fit fifty 15 kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.

The iGenerate team installing solar panels on the BRI Research Winery roof.

Impressively, the PV panel installation took less than a week. BRI would like to thank iGenerate for their commitment to this project, taking us one step closer to completion and our February 2020 launch.

Completed solar panel installation.

By going solar, we’re helping to reduce our carbon footprint and minimise the impact on our environment. Our Building Management System (BMS) will track energy use so we can measure solar consumption, based on the principle that you don’t manage what you don’t measure. It is also part of our journey towards 5-star certification with the NZ Green Building Council’s Greenstar building sustainability programme.

This is just the first step of many in our sustainability plan, with plans to increase solar capacity and investigate battery storage once the building is operational. We have opted for micro-inverter panels that allow us to maintain and record data for individual panels, facilitating future sponsorship.

We are looking for sponsors to come on board in 2020 and help us deliver our sustainability plan. If you are interested in partnering with us, please contact Tracy Benge  tracy@bri.co.nz.