At Bishop’s Orchard in Connecticut, sunlight helps grow apples, berries, and pumpkins.
And now Bishop’s Orchard is also using sunlight to produce electricity with nearly 1,500 solar panels.
The panels are located on the roof of the farm’s market and on a previously unproductive piece of land that was not suitable for growing crops.
And they provide about 75% of the orchard’s electricity needs.
Keith Bishop, the fifth generation of his family to run the orchard, says he was motivated to go solar in part by a desire to help future generations keep the farm going.
Bishop: “My inspiration for solar was to be able to help control our future cost of energy on the farm as well as to be more sustainable.”
Bishop also says he’s concerned about climate change and extreme weather like floods and powerful storms, which have devastated some farmers in Connecticut.
He says his solar installation is inspiring others in his community to consider going solar.
Bishop: “The visibility of our solar operation … helps us to be known and recognized as doing the right thing for the future environment. … It also raises awareness of other people to say, ‘Hey, should I consider solar? How did you do it?’”
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
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