WHAT WE DO

GREEN ENERGY USE (SOLAR) APPLICATION

GTH Farms believes capturing the sun’s energy for light, heat, hot water, and electricity can be a convenient way to save money. Whether drying crops, heating buildings, or powering a water pump, using the sun can make the farm more efficient. The amount of energy from the sun that reaches Earth each day is enormous. All the energy stored in Earth’s reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas is equal to the energy in just 20 days of sunshine. One of the simplest ways GTH Farms is using solar energy is for its storage buildings and barns to use natural daylight instead of electric lights.

GTH Farms is also using the sun’s heat to warm homes and light livestock buildings. Using the sun to dry crops and grain is one of the oldest applications of solar energy. Solar drying equipment can dry crops faster and more evenly than leaving them in the field after harvest, with the added advantage of avoiding damage by birds, pests, and weather. A typical solar dryer consists of an enclosure or shed, screened drying trays or racks, and a solar collector. In a simple design, south-facing windows let sun into the shed. Other designs use a dark-colored box with a glass cover to capture the heat. Natural convection or a fan moves hot air through the crops to dry them.