Reducing our energy footprint further: A new cooling system & more solar

The conservation of our resources and sustainable working practices are a key priority for us at Höpler. This means we continually re-think how to do things, in a more resource efficient way, applying modern technology and intelligence for better outcomes.

Last week saw the culmination of two new projects.
The first was the replacement of our cooling systems for modern less energy hungry alternatives. This was a big task, but its size is indicated by the sheer scale of the crane required to lift everything onto the roof.

This new cooling system is vital for controlling the temperature of our wines during fermentation. Without gentle intervention they could over heat and destroy their delicate and important aromas. This upcoming harvest we will be using less energy to achieve this. A win for us all.

New 50KWP solar in Winden
Over in Winden (hoeplers winerooms – the home of our original winery) we have also installed an additional 54,36KWP of solar on the roof (opening picture). This now takes our combined solar capacity to 250KWP.

We understand the KWP is a unit that is difficult to grasp but a useful analogy is horse power. If the solar panels ran flat out all the time they could achieve 250kw of energy per hour. As it is not always sunny the outcome is always different. Our keener readers follow the amount of energy we produce from the roof of our winery live. Take a look, so far since installation we have generated 512,5MW of energy. This is enough to drive 4mill km or 750,000 km a year in an E car. It is enough energy for 41 households per year in our region.

Solar Breitenbrunn dashboard July 2021

Put like this it shows how much needs to be done but fortunately this is by no means the end for us. We have initiatives under way to work smarter all the time and we will continue to demonstrate this to you through our sustainable reports and certification.