Dog’s Day Farm is a Resilient Clean Energy Model

By, Abigail Peryea, Energy Specialist

Dog’s Day Farm, owned by Kelly and Matt Brown, is the first Maryland business to take advantage of both the Commercial Clean Energy Rebate Program to install a solar system and the Maryland Energy Storage Tax Credit Program to install a battery wall which will store energy generated by the solar panels for use at another time. Dog’s Day Farm is a 25-acre, kennel free dog daycare and boarding service in Gaithersburg.  In addition to outdoor space, the farm has ample climate-controlled indoor spaces which must be maintained in all conditions for the health and safety of the animals in their care. 

With the installation of a 38 kilowatts (kW) solar array and five Tesla Powerwalls which provide 67.5 kilowatts per hour (kWh) of energy storage Dog’s Day Farm has made their business more energy resilient, meaning that the farm can quickly recover from a power outage. The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) assisted in the funding for both of these projects and awarded Dog’s Day Farm a $5,528.50 solar installation rebate and a $12,627.30 tax credit for the energy storage installation. 

The farm owners decided to purchase a solar and battery system in the spring of 2019 to enable the farm to become more resilient. Kelly and Matt wanted to make sure that in the event of a power outage, whether temporary or multi-day, their staff would be able to provide the same level of comfort to their clients’ cherished dogs.  Specifically, Matt wanted to be able to continue providing air-conditioning for the dogs in the summer, heat in the winter, and more importantly to have running water, since the farm is on a well. 

“I’m very happy with our decision to invest in solar and battery storage. Not only is our business and farm much more resilient, but our energy costs have been reduced to the nominal administrative cost of being connected to the grid,” says owner Matt Brown. 

Dogs Day Farm MEA Fact Sheet FINAL

Maryland was the first state in the country to offer an energy storage income tax credit. The program is available to residential and commercial taxpayers who have installed an energy storage system on their residential or commercial property in Maryland during Tax Year 2020 (January 1 – December 31, 2020). For more details, click here. 

Please visit our website for more information about MEA’s Commercial Clean Energy Rebate Program. MEA also offers a Residential Clean Energy Rebate Program for homeowners who install renewable energy measures in their home like solar of geothermal. For homeowners with specific questions on solar energy, we have a free resource guide you can download, A Maryland Consumer’s Guide to Solar.