Bitterroot Brewery, Hamilton Montana , Photovoltaic Instalation

This system is comprised of 40 -255 watt modules to create a 10kW array. The brewery building is located next to a baseball park which includes a ball net held in place with a number of telephone poles south of the main building. Add to this a cell tower to the Southwest. All of which creates areas of shading at specific times through the solar day.

Because of this shading we opted for micro inverters as their primary advantage is a reduction in losses when portions of the array are shaded. We also mounted a portion of the array on the west facing roof as this is totally free of shading and very visible from the main street intersection. Unlike string inverters with one MPPT channel where all modules need to be of the same orientation and angle, micros give us flexibility and allow any orientation for multiple modules.

A smart TV is mounted in the main room of this local watering hole where it is easy to see just how much power the array is producing. This is a great way to show off your solar system if you have a public area.

The owner and managers of the brewery utilized every possible incentive available here in Montana. Because of their location they were able to secure the USDA 25% grant, a partial grant from NorthWestern Energy, and the low interest loan program (3.25%) from Montana DEQ.