Heritage-sensitive commercial solar delivering measurable savings
Lowe Family Wine Co.
Fully off‑grid energy system for a winery and restaurant operation
Client
Lowe Family Wine Co.
Project
Commercial Off Grid
Location
Mudgee, NSW
Background
Lowe Wines, a leading organic vineyard and hospitality destination in Mudgee, was facing ongoing power issues, from unreliable grid access to skyrocketing energy costs. With operations spanning a vineyard, cellar door, and hatted restaurant (The Zin House), the business needed a dependable, sustainable energy solution that could keep everything running, even during peak demand or outages.
“Before, I was actually managing the power usage. You couldn’t turn an oven on or a fridge on without something else being turned off. It was really a day-by-day, seven-day-a-week monitoring of our power usage, but the trouble was that I didn’t know how much power we were using, I only knew when it was a problem.”
— David Lowe
The Solution
SPS Solar + Water designed and installed a custom off-grid system that included 414 solar panels (265kW) and 1.2MWh of battery storage. The system was engineered specifically for the property’s diverse energy loads, allowing Lowe Wines to operate entirely off the grid, day and night, with enough capacity to host large events without compromise.
“We had a wedding for 160 people on Friday night. We had 130 on Saturday night. We also … had about 300 paying customers to visit us. The restaurant was full, our bases were loaded, and I tell you what, I loved it. I love this machine.”
Key Result
During a major regional blackout, Lowe Wines remained fully operational, hosting two weddings, a full restaurant service, and uninterrupted cellar door activity while neighbouring businesses were without power.
“We have our own factory, we have our own food processing plant, we have our own winery, we have our own restaurant. Now we have our own energy source, I feel like I’m in control. I feel like we’re managing our own business. Before, we were captive.”
100%
Energy Independence
Previously constrained by limited grid capacity and outages, the site now operates with reliable power to support ongoing growth.
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