When finished, the project will be Oregon’s largest application of solar thermal energy.
Instead of producing electricity, the solar panels will heat the tank water, which will circulate underground and warm the plants growing in a 54,000-square-foot greenhouse.
It was a combination of things that drew Grace Dinsdale back to the family farm 28 years ago, where she transformed a struggling dairy into a profitable plant nursery. One was the simple joy of growing things. Another was a complex sense of stewardship.
Both are at play in the project rising from the ground at her 130-acre Blooming Nursery. There, workers are installing an array of towering solar panels that will stretch nearly the length of the nursery’s 700-foot driveway. Nearby, a crew is applying insulating foam to a covered concrete tank that will hold 300,000 gallons of water.
Read more in the Oregonian.
