The Farmers Mart Jun/Jul 2016 - Issue 46 | Page 23

Farm News

Solar still represents
significant savings
»»THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT CUTS IN
feed in Tariffs for Solar mean Farmers are
looking to other areas to help manage
their return on investment as well as their
Carbon foot print. High energy users are
also looking to claim relief on the Climate
Change Levy which has been in force since
2000.

‘The modern Farmer
really needs to consider
installing a Solar system
as part of the Farm’s
future proofing strategy’

Despite the reduction in feed in tariffs
Solar Power is still a big cost saver, just
a slightly longer return on investment.
The Pig and Poultry sector benefiting the
most. Installations between 10KW and
50Kw represent the most attractive cost
savings. The modern Farmer really needs
to consider installing a Solar system
as part of the Farm’s future proofing
strategy.
With Dresser Solar’s years of
experience they are able to advise all
sectors of the Farming community with
many working examples of their previous
installations to base real return figures
on.

“LED Lighting - significant cost savings
and reduced carbon footprint”
»»SINCE THE REDUCTION IN FEED IN
TARIFFS Steven Dresser have been
involved in more and more LED lighting
installations in order to reduce energy
costs. Many Farmers are still unaware of
the significant cost savings in replacing
existing lights with LED fittings.
Studies have shown that in the dairy
sector LED replacement lighting replicating
daylight can maximise comfort of livestock
and can result in an increase in milk yield
of up to 7-10%. Quality light is an essential
factor when considering both the welfare
and profitability of your herd.
Switching to LED lighting is the most
efficient way to achieve energy savings
of between 50% and 80% and additional
savings can be achieved by installing
lighting controls e.g. setting your lights to
be at 200lux for 16 hours per day and 20lux
for 8 hours per day. The cost of installing
LED lighting can be neutral over a short
term and makes a huge amount of financial
sense.
To show the possible savings, analysis
has been taken from a 120m x 22m cattle
shed using 24 x 440w traditional lighting
fittings, with operating hours assumed at

24 hours per day 7
days per week. Annual
electricity costs with
traditional lighting totalled
£13,876 and with the same quantity
of LED lights the annual costs were just
£4,730. Therefore, savings totalled £9,146
and with LED lights having a lifetime of
more than 10 years and requiring no
maintenance, the payback time for this

building was only 1.1 years, after which
the energy saving is seen as profit for the
business.
Another benefit of LED lighting is the
ability to dim the lights, providing dawn and
dusk periods, reducing the competition for
food when lights are switched on in the
morning and reducing potentially startling
effects when lights are switched on or off.
Pigs need the right light levels so that they
can identify each other, communicate and
see pen features such as feeders.
There is good evidence that
pigs’ eyes are not adapted for
extremely bright light and that
they may be better suited to
dim levels of natural light. LED
lighting provides not only the
opportunity for significant cost
saving but also to be able to
control the pig’s environment and
ease of wellbeing which all leads to
healthier less stressed pigs.
Speak to Steven Dresser today to discuss
your immediate energy savings and he
will be happy to meet up with you and
discuss your requirements.

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