Elzinga + Hoeksema Greenhouses Reduce Carbon Footprint

Bauer Power installs all kinds of renewable energy solutions for solar electric, solar pool heating and solar thermal projects. Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses is one of the solar hot water projects, which the company has handled successfully. The project includes 200 solar thermal collectors to heat the completely organic greenhouse. This greenhouse is used to grow potted plants and organic vegetables.

The solar hot water system installed in the Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses heats up the 63,000 gallon storage tank during the summer season. For the winter, the solar thermal system provides ground water heating system. The ground is heated before hand in the normal heating season and the stored heat is used during the winter. The 200 solar thermal collectors are divided into sets of 10 that are separated as single systems for individual maintenance and repair.

The collectors used in the project are AET Morning Star type of collectors. The size of each collector is 4 x 8 feet. All the 200 collectors are tilted at an angle of 52 degree and mounted on the ground. As the collectors are tilted, they allow better shed down of snow. This also sustains the performance of solar thermal collectors. The solar hot water system, installed by Bauer Power, helps Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses to reduce the carbon footprint and be less dependent on utility power.