Sunny summer days are always good for ice cream sales. At Willard Scoops in South Portland, they're also helping power the equipment that makes the ice cream.
As of last month, the small business is generating enough electricity from rooftop solar panels to offset all of its annual power use, allowing everything from churning ice cream and running freezers to air conditioning the shop to operate on renewable energy produced on site.
For owner David Bass-Clark, the project represents more than a way to lower energy costs. It is part of an effort to build a small business around long-term sustainability.
"This was about building a business that reflects the kind of future we want to be part of," he said. "Ice cream is surprisingly energy-intensive. If a small neighborhood shop like ours can make this work, hopefully it shows other small businesses that sustainability can be practical, not just aspirational."
Willard Scoops opened in 2015 in South Portland's Willard Square, across the street from Scratch Baking Co. and a short walk from Willard Beach.
The family-owned creamery makes ice cream on-site in small batches and serves cones, cups, sundaes, frappes, floats and hand-packed pints, with a rotating selection of classic and seasonal flavors.
The business produces more than 8,000 gallons of ice cream annually and serves more than 100,000 scoops each year.
Going solar fits into a broader effort to reduce waste at Willard Scoops.
Over the past year, the business has switched to compostable cups, spoons and other service items, a change the company estimates diverts 15,000 pounds of waste annually through its partnership with Garbage to Garden.
Financing from CEI
The project received financing support from Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Brunswick-based Community Development Financial Institution that touts Willard Scoops as Maine's first 100% solar-powered ice cream maker.
The nonprofit has financed solar installations for more than 81 Maine businesses, farms and community facilities.
The solar array supplies the electricity needed to operate the shop's production equipment, freezers, refrigeration systems, air conditioning and retail space at Willard Scoops. PHOTO / COURTESY O/f WILLARD SCOOPS
"More and more Maine businesses are seeing solar as a viable way to reduce operating costs by producing some or all of their own power," said Jesse McKinnell, senior vice president of specialty finance at CEI.
"Financing solar replaces the unpredictability of utility bills with a fixed payment, and once the system is paid off, the panels still have decades of productive life ahead," McKinnell added.
Reader feedback
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