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Solar Structures support Zero carbon craft beer

When Maurice Deasy of the innovative craft beer brewery, Canvas, (www.canvas.ie) decided to lower the overall carbon emissions of his business in North Tipperary, he decided to partner with Solar Structures.  The historic slate-roofed farm building that houses his brewing works was deemed inappropriate for a standard roof mounted solar deployment.  It was clear that a special solution was needed to give the brewery the benefit of clean green solar generated electricity.

Maurice had heard of Solar Structures online and was very interested in the innovative range of structures for holding solar PV panels that this Galway company had developed.  Solar Structures (solarstructures.ie) focus on creating structures that hold Solar PV and give the client an upgraded usable outdoor space, such as carports, covered walkways, bicycle shelters, car park canopies.

By looking at a free-standing structure there were also advantages in that firstly the historic roof of the brewery building would not be touched.  Secondly, by adding a standalone structure with solar PV panels, this would allow the brewery to upgrade the outdoor space at the business. 

In the words of Maurice Deasy, owner of Canvas brewery:

“The idea of a standalone structure really made huge sense to us, it meant that we were ‘killing two birds with one stone’ in that we were getting all the advantages of a standard deployment of Solar PV panels all the while gaining additional outdoor space.  We are at the forefront from an innovation and sustainability point of view, we use our own well water, our own ingredients from the farm and  we are one of the few breweries producing wood-fired beer.  Now we will be producing beer with even lower carbon emissions along with lowering our electricity input costs.”

The modular structure that has been built will has a variable pitch, meaning that the angles of the panels can be changed depending on the season.  This means that the panels can be optimised for 10, 20 and 30 degrees angles.  Ruairí O’Neill of Solar Structures is very excited about this design element:

“At Solar Structures, we really are about breaking new ground in the field of structures for solar PV panels.  The idea of a variable pitch free standing structure with multiple use functionality really appealed to our design team, as we love a challenge.  Most of our designs have a set pitch, but from our discussions with the client, Canvas Brewery, we understood that they too were looking to create something special to hold their Solar PV deployment.”

The structure was built in galvanised steel to ensure that it stands the test of time.

The power output of the system is expected to significantly reduce the carbon output of the awarding winning craft beer, all the while reducing the running costs of the business.

For more information on this project and on our many other projects, please contact us at:

hi@solarstructures.ie

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