Downstream from Loxton, Starrs Reach Vineyard is committed to an ethical, sustainable, and environmentally conscious planet, paving the way for future generations. The family-owned business runs three vineyards – Ganoola/Pyap Vineyard, Litchfield Winery and Starrs Reach – across 210 hectares that produce more than 5000 tonnes of premium wine grapes each year. Almond and citrus crops also grow on these sprawling properties.

Conservation is at the heart of the business, which restores and maintains wetlands, river floodplains and Mallee highland vegetation native to the region. Looking to reduce its carbon footprint and offset energy usage from its pumps, Starrs Reach turned to another proudly South Australian family owned business.

Back in 2010, Ben and David Lovell wanted to help people maximise their energy efficiency while reducing their carbon footprint, and so Living Energy was born. For the two brothers, there’s so much more to energy efficiency than simply installing solar panels on a roof.

Living Energy provided Starrs Reach with a solution – invest in a 100kW solar farm. The venture has paid off and the environmental and economic benefits have been staggering. Let’s have a look at the numbers.

The solar system generates a total of 556,470 kWh of energy. By comparing the actual generation against the quoted yield, it’s performing above expectation by 10%.

Starrs Reach has also drastically reduced its carbon footprint. The water pumping stations now run at 157% carbon neutral – that means the solar system is generating more than 1.5 times the amount of energy than it consumes on site. Saving money has been a welcome bonus, too.

With a 17.5% return on investment, Starrs Reach has already paid back 76% of the plant’s entire cost through its solar savings. It’s this offering to members that led to RAA’s acquisition of Living Energy and Lovell Electrical in July this year.

Bringing together more than 100 years combined experience in renewables, RAA’s solar and battery storage solutions extends to commercial offerings.

Australia leads the world when it comes to solar uptake with more than three million rooftop solar systems installed across the country. The partnership between Living Energy and Starrs Reach Vineyard is a case study of how effective and energy efficient this technology can be. Renewables are the future.