Renewable energy is a topic of discussion for poultry farmers, and Irish Farmers’ Association poultry chair Nigel Sweetnam has been the latest to join in on the debate. Sweetnam says that the current supports in place do not provide poultry farmers with a sufficient incentive to justify the upfront investment needed to install solar panels. A reverse metering system was suggested, whereby farmers could supply surplus electricity into the grid and receive the same amount of electricity free of charge when their solar panels are not generating power.
Sweetnam says that by making the once-off investment in renewable energy generation, poultry farmers could decrease their vulnerability to electricity and gas price increases. This comes as the European Commission has announced a target of doubling solar and wind energy generation by 2025.
“If I knew my annual consumption, I could install enough solar panels to supply my electricity needs. But when these solar panels are not producing, I should be able to get back the surplus electricity I fed into the system,” says Sweetnam.
He adds that if the one-off cost was similar to what he would pay for energy bills over five to seven years, it would make the investment worthwhile.
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