Lincolnshire Poacher cheese has turned to solar to help it become greener. The award-winning Lincolnshire cheese has been produced by brothers Tim and Simon Jones from their family farm near Ulceby for the last 20 years.
To help the company realise its environmental ambitions, Stow-based renewables company Freewatt installed a 50kWp system on the farm’s store, where more than 200 tonnes of Poacher cheese is kept safe.
The solar array is estimated to produce around 42,000kWh of energy a year that will be used to reduce the cost of running the milking machines and the farm’s refrigeration equipment.
The solar array will complement an existing wind turbine already installed at the farm and should help cut the cheese farm’s carbon footprint by a further 22 tonnes a year.
“We had been thinking about solar power for some time but we wanted the best technology and to work with a company we trusted and Freewatt was the obvious choice,” said Tim Jones.
“Even though the weather has been dull since the panels went up the electricity they are generating is already outperforming our expectations.”
Freewatt Managing Director, Julian Patrick said his company specifically used panels proven for their high performance in the county’s climate and because they were ammonia resistant in an environment with lots of animals.
“We are increasingly focusing on farmers and larger PV systems,” he said.
“Most farmers can really benefit as they use quite a lot of electricity and have either roofs or ground space available.”
Patrick concluded: “As a local company we are particularly proud that we’ve helped a company that is highlighting the quality of Lincolnshire food and promoting the name of the county across the world.”