Mobile solar systems in dairy farming: experience of a farmer from Victoria

Peter Mulheron, a dairy farm owner in Victoria, Australia, faced the problem of the inefficiency of traditional stationary solar panels. The farm's main operating cycle, which includes milking more than 200 cows and cooling milk, occurs during the early morning and night hours. In addition, water heating accounts for a significant portion of expenses. Stationary equipment could not handle the load, and investments in capital structures were impractical for a farmer planning to retire.

The solution was a mobile system developed by the company PHNXX. The installation is housed in shipping containers and includes an array of solar panels that deploy on special rails. The process of preparing the system for operation takes about four hours. The structure of one 20-ton container contains 240 folding panels, which, when deployed, occupy nearly 400 feet of space and are capable of generating 140 kW of power.

When using the system on the Mulheron farm, the panels provide 105 kW of power, and the battery capacity is 241 kWh. This equipment allows covering 90% of the farm's energy needs, which reduces electricity costs by more than $22,000 annually.

Portable solar technologies of this type differ from commercially available low-power solutions designed for domestic needs or tourism. The latter have a power range from 100 to 450 W and are suitable for charging personal devices. At the same time, modular industrial-scale systems, such as the Mulheron installation, allow for the deployment of full-fledged power plants at any site with an adequate level of insolation.