ONE of Scotland’s largest solar farms is on track to produce its highest amount of green energy in a year. Mackie’s of Scotland’s 7000 panel solar farm, based on the Aberdeenshire family farm, helps the firm produce its famous ice cream and chocolate while creating enough year round green energy to export back to the grid. With a total installed capacity of 1.8MW, the ten-acre site complements Mackie’s four wind turbines (total 3MW), providing peak power in summer when wind levels tend to drop. In May alone, the solar farm produced 275,000 kilowatt hours – enough power to make the equivalent of around 650,000 litres of ice cream and on one single day (May 25) it created enough electricity to supply the equivalent of three homes for an entire year. Managing director and one of three sibling owners, Mac Mackie, said: “It’s not too often we get to talk favourably about the weather up here – but May and early June have had incredible amounts of sunshine.
The National 14th June 2018 read more »
