Beer from the Sun

We are excited to announce that Thorn Street Brewery is officially solar powered! While this has been in the works for a while, we are super pumped to be able to take another step in the “green direction.” The guys from Efficient Solar Services hooked us up with top-of-the-line panels that now sit atop our North Park roof, taking in all of the love from the sun.

How Solar Power Works

If you had previously asked us how solar power works, we probably would have said, “magic?” But after some quick googling, the easiest breakdown came from an article called “How Solar Panels Work: A Guide for Dummies.” 

“Put simply, a solar cell works like this: Inside a solar cell, you have two wafer-thin layers of silicon crystal, placed on top of each other to make a sort of silicon sandwich. The top layer has been specially treated so that its atoms are unstable — they have one too many electrons that they would really like to get rid of. The bottom layer has also been treated, but this time the atoms have a few empty spaces that could really do with an electron to fill them. So the top layer is desperate to lose a few electrons, the bottom layer is desperate to gain a few electrons, and the electrons themselves are itching to move from the top layer to the bottom. This setup puts everything is in place for electricity to be produced. There is just one problem: the electrons within silicon crystal can’t move around freely — not until the solar panel is exposed to light. When sunlight hits the top silicon layer, it ‘excites’ the electrons and gives them enough energy to move. The electrons begin to flow from the top layer to the bottom. And as we know, when a bunch of electrons start to move along in the same direction, we have electricity.”

Sunny Benefits

The benefits of going solar for TSB were twofold. First, we get to reduce our monthly expenses by cutting out the entire brewery bill to SDG&E. That’s right, all brewery operations are running on solar power! By reducing our monthly spending we can reinvest more back into our beer. Just as exciting, though, is the fact that we are making strides in reducing our environmental footprint by using clean, renewable energy.

Sharing is Caring

Another way we work to positively impact our environment is through donating our spent grains. People used to say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and it’s definitely the case with spent grains. Luckily, at Stehly Farms in Valley Center, they need the spent grains to feed their livestock and are more than happy to come and pick up what is considered waste to us. Our brewers love to see these guys coming because they always drop by some delicious, organic fruits and vegetables for the staff too.

So here’s to being green! You can now enjoy our beer being made by clean, renewable energy that also happens to help our bottom line, making sure that TSB will be here for years to come making delicious beer from the sun.