Isle of Eigg Brewery

Our micro-brewery is based on the Isle of Eigg, off the wild West coast of Scotland. The Isle of Eigg Brewery is the only cooperative brewery in Scotland and was created because of my passion for beer and creativity.

I originally moved to the Isle of Eigg eight years ago. I was formally a secondary school teacher, however, there is only a small primary school on the island, so I became unemployed. This led me to be creative and follow my passion and in 2015, I started a very small brewery.

Before starting the brewery, I was very conscious of two things: ethically building a business during an environmental crisis and contributing to carbon emissions. The Isle of Eigg is a very unique island because it is not connected to the mainland electricity supply but powered by renewable sources including water, sun and wind. In addition to using this renewable energy, we also use our own solar panels to soak up energy from the sun. Beer making involves a huge amount of energy, so I wanted to find the best technology to support our solar energy system. This is what sparked my interest in Powerwall.

We have had our Powerwalls since November 2021. Powerwall allows us to store energy from the grid and our own solar energy to have enough power to brew when we need to. It gives us the freedom to plan in advance and Tesla have really pivoted for us. Being on a remote island, it involved many special efforts to get the equipment to us. Tesla had great communication with us throughout and their customer service was excellent.

Our 24 solar panels provide us 40kWh per day in the summertime. In the summer, the solar panels can power the brewery alone, however in the winter we have to use the Eigg grid more frequently. The Eigg grid is made up from hydro, solar and wind power. The Powerwall serves the vital function of allowing us to brew. We would not be able to do this without Powerwall as the Eigg grid limits us to 5kWh’s a day.

The Tesla app allows us to plan in advance and monitor the exact amount of power we have stored. I am currently trying to find an electric van to transport the beer. This will be charged by our solar panels and Powerwall.

I recommend the Tesla Energy to every business looking to go eco-friendly. It is the best of new technology in terms of battery storage. Tesla also has a 10-year warranty, so I am not worrying about the future. You really wouldn’t get the same care and attention from any other energy provider in a remote location like the Isle of Eigg.