O’Shea Farms 250kwp Solar Photovoltaic System

O’Shea Farms is a family run business, they supply fresh vegetable produce to supermarkets across the country resulting in a year-round electricity demand for refrigerated cold storage and grading equipment at their site.

O’Shea Farms engaged with 3cea back in 2015 to develop a renewable energy project at their site and installed the largest Solar PV system (250kWp) under the BEC programme run by Kilkenny County Council under their Sustainable Energy Action Plan.

A variety of measures including: LED lighting, Solar PV and refrigeration upgrades were successfully installed with funding through SEAI. Savings of €60,000 were achieved in the first year. €25,000 in the form of energy credit payments obtained through the obligated parties scheme were all donated to local communities.

O’Shea Farms PV project generates 11% of the total site electricity and operates a direct feed of the entire PV production to the refrigerator units. This helps protect the fresh vegetable produce throughout the hot summer months. This renewable electricity generation matches precisely the load demand profile of the refrigeration system.

By reducing their maintenance costs and capturing the potential within the business has led O’Shea’s Farms to become the most sustainable producer of vegetables in Ireland and possibly Europe and our team is very proud of this achievement.