STEVEN Willemse has invested more than $100,000 in a solar system to power his family’s SJW Mushrooms farm at Chevallum.
The 60kW solar hybrid system is believed to be the biggest of its kind on the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Willemse said he decided to avoid rising electricity costs and protect his farm from costly power outages.
The farm had no electricity for four days and lost $20,000 in stock when the Sunshine Coast felt the after effects of Cyclone Oswald in January last year.
The new hybrid solar system includes a battery back-up which can power the farm for up to 20 hours, depending on the electricity usage.
