NEWS 10 <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>November</strong> <strong>24</strong>, <strong>2022</strong> Mixing up renewable energy at bakery By ROBYN BRISTOW Rangiora Bakery is operating on 100% renewable energy after 820 solar panels were installed on the roof of its central Rangiora premises. The panelsare providing 25% of its energyneeds, whilethe remaining 75% is being sourced in partnershipwith MainPower, from the KakarikiPower Scheme—asmall hydro dam near Mt Hutt. The project, completed in September, is one of the largest ever under taken by ChristchurchbasedFreshStart Electrical. Rangiora Bakery owner Ron van Til says he is always looking for opportunitiestoimprovethe environmental footprint of his 160yearold business. Solar panelswere the nextlogical step after the installation of ebike chargers at the bakery entrance lastyear. ‘‘The installation of our freeebike chargers increased our power usage, so we thought‘how can we offset thatcost?’. Solar energywas the obviousanswer.’’ It is hoped the panels will produce more that what’s needed as summer approaches. The initial solar panel outlaywas about halfamillion dollars, but Mr van Til expected the return on investment to take onlysix years, compared to the average household payback of 1214 years. ‘‘It is alarge initialoutlay, but asixyear payback is agood return. The panelsalso come with a25year guarantee and after those 25 years it’s expected that the panels will lose only around15% of theirefficacy. This is a good wearing asset.’’ As supplierstoseveral multinational companies, Rangiora Bakery is required to be an environmentally responsible organisation, and is audited annually on this basis. Throughaudit,todate, the business has been earmarked as one of the leadingcompanies taking action on climatepositive initiatives. ‘‘Lots of businessestalk about going green, but we choose to actually take the steps required to implement these initiatives. ‘‘Whileweare required to investigate these opportunities as partofour multinationalcontracts, thereisalso a level of socialresponsibility here which we takeseriously.’’ Mr van Til said other businesses considering the shift to solar energy should definitely consider it. ‘‘MainPower was fantastic to work with and theyare keen to do more solar installationsin<strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong>. In addition, there are local<strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> businessesproviding solar installation,soyou can support local all the way.’’ Mr van Til says there are no Governmentsubsidies he is aware of to help businesseswith the investment,but, some installation companies will offera lease and buyback typeofsetup,easing the initialcost outlay. Rangiora Bakery isn’tthe first largescale business in Waimakariritoinvest in solar power.Misco Joinery installed 535 panels on its factoryroof in Kaiapoi in 2019. At the time, it was the largest solar energy systemin<strong>Canterbury</strong>.The system provides up to 70% of the energy requirements for Misco Joinery’s showroom and workshop, which is the Powering on ... The solar panels on the roof of the Rangiora Bakery, High Street, Rangiora. PHOTO: RANGIORA BAKERY largest automated plantinthe South Island. MiscoJoinery’s Penny Abell says the installation has proven valuable to the business. ‘‘In our showroomwehave screens that show how many trees we have saved and our reduced carbonemissions through the use of solar energy.This is a greattalking pointwith clients, but also showsusthe impact we are having.’’ Pennysays the nextclimatefriendly addition to the business will be an EV charging point which will run on the solar energygenerated by the panels. In addition, Misco Joineryisinthe process of gaining its Toitu Enviromark Certification; an accreditationwhich requires ongoing efforts and audits to reach and maintainacredible environmental management system. ‘‘For any business thinkingabout investing in solar energy, we would say go for it. It has many benefits.’’
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