Ancient Peaks Winery’s Margarita Vineyard to go solar

Ancient Peaks Winery’s Margarita Vineyard in Santa Margarita will go solar in April with the installation of two new solar plants — essentially large groupings of solar panels mounted on posts.

Once operational, the vineyard will generate more electricity than it consumes.

Solar power generated at the vineyard will be fed into the PG&E grid to help the utility during periods of peak consumption, according to an Ancient Peaks news release.

To further minimize the vineyard’s carbon footprint, the winery is converting its irrigation pumps from propane to electric power, the news release said.

It also has recently added wind machines for frost protection.

Total investment in the solar plants and high-voltage facilities will exceed $1 million.

Ancient Peaks Winery produces a total of 32,000 cases of wine annually.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Ancient Peaks Winery’s Margarita Vineyard to go solar."