A Sherwood-area farm and grocery store is saving up to $28,000 on its annual electric bill — along with increasing crop yields — thanks to Portland General Electric solar towers that were funded in part by customers who support renewable energy.

Our Table Cooperative uses the towers, which pivot as the sun moves across the sky, at its farm and grocery store on property purchased in 2011 at 13390 S.W. Morgan Road.

The organic farm produces a variety of crops that include nuts, vegetables and fruits (blueberries, apples and strawberries), which are either sold in the grocery store or to restaurants and grocery stores in the Portland-metro area.

The store, whose ecofriendly interior features a 30-foot-tall vaulted ceiling made with timbers that came from an old dairy barn — the same wood used for the siding of the building — opened in 2014.

“We are trying to reimagine what the local food system could look like for the future — really, it’s about bringing people together around food,” Our Table Founder Narendra Varma said in a PGE statement.

Three years ago, Varma applied for a PGE Green Future Renewable Development Fund grant, which supports clean energy for small-innovative renewable projects by helping facilities reduce or eliminate carbon footprints. That fund comes from the 215,000 PGE customers who opt in to support clean energy.

Towers produce energy, shade

The six towers the farm installed, paid in part by federal tax credits, have 28 solar panels per tower. They produce a total-rated capacity of 75 kilowatts — enough energy to power the entire 58-acre farm and its buildings — making the farm 100% energy independent, according to PGE officials.

“It’s a huge benefit to an organization like ours,” said Varma, who formally worked in the high-tech industry for eight years, which included a position at Microsoft.

The PGE fund also covers the cost of battery storage at Our Table Cooperative which, paired with the solar panels, provides energy after a power outage caused by storms.

“Our mission really is community through food. So it’s a bit of a weird mission where we’re trying to kind of reimagine what the local food system could look like (in) the future,” Varma said, “but really it’s about bringing people together around food.”