French farmer turns to harvesting the sun
Posted on February 26th, 2009ClimateWire: French farmer Jean-Luc Westphal produces eggs and grains on his farm in France’s Vosges hills, but his next export will be electricity.
Westphal is one of a number of French farmers who have decided to invest in renewable solar panels on their farms to supplement their incomes. With financing loans from Banque Populaire and Crédit Agricole, Westphal has put $26 million into integrated solar panels that will churn 4.5 megawatts out of the eastern French sun.
The return on his investment will come with the inflation-adjusted feed-in tariffs he will be paid by the French government for his role in supplying carbon-free energy to about 4,000 homes.
“It’s quite a gamble,” Westphal admits. The long-term contracts he has with the government will earn him close to €2 million ($2.5 million) a year in electricity sales, he said.
Recently, an old classmate of Westphal’s visited the farm in anticipation of installing panels on his own farm in the near future.
“We’re trying to go a bit beyond agriculture to earn our living in a different way,” said Jean-Luc Leonhart (Gus Trompiz, Reuters, Feb. 23). – PT