Brewing On Sunshine

Our off-grid solar setup is made up of 72 high-efficiency solar panels that together produce up to 34,800 watts (34.8 kW) of direct current (DC) at peak production.

That’s roughly the same power needed to run 15 home air conditioners or charge over 600 smartphones an hour! The energy flows through three Sol-Ark 12K inverter/charge controllers (each a powerful 12,000-watt hybrid inverter), which convert the sun’s DC electricity into 27,000 watts of usable alternating current (AC) — the same kind that powers your home appliances, our brewing system, lighting, refrigeration, and more.

Off-Grid by Design

Arbrū operates with zero connection to the utility grid. We produce 100 % of our electricity on-site, directly from the sun and our battery reserves. Every pint, pizza, and event here is powered by clean renewable energy — even after sunset.
Arbrū began with just 32 solar panels producing 13,000 watts and 40,000 watt-hours of storage. Year by year, as the brewery grew, so did the solar system — doubling its capacity and evolving into the self-sustaining powerhouse it is today.

Our Battery Bank

We store our sunshine in 16 LiFePO₄ (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries, the same advanced technology used in modern electric vehicles.
Each battery holds 5,000 watt-hours of energy, giving us a total storage of over 80,000 watt-hours (80 kWh) — enough to:
Power a typical Canadian home for 2–3 days, or Brew an entire batch of beer without a single watt from the grid.
This means when the sun goes down, the beer keeps flowing — all powered by stored solar energy.

How We Brew

Our brewing system runs entirely on the energy we produce from the sun.

The brewhouse is a 375-litre system, sized perfectly for hand-crafted, small-batch brewing that lets us control every detail.Because we’re completely off-grid, our power output defines our brew days.We literally brew with the weather — planning production around periods of strong sunshine to make the most of nature’s energy.

To heat our brewing water, we use two 6,500-watt electric thermal elements, drawing clean solar power stored in our battery bank.

That’s 13,000 watts of pure sunshine turning water, malt, and hops into beer.

The Process

  • Milling

    Freshly cracked Ontario-grown malted barley

  • Mashing

    Solar-heated water extracts natural sugars from grains

  • Boiling

    The wort is boiled with hops using solar power

  • Fermentation

    Solar-chilled tanks maintain precise yeast temperatures

  • Conditioning & Carbonation

    Each batch matures off-grid until its perfectly balanced

Our Story

Founder Phil Audet studied Sustainable Energy Engineering in Europe and launched his first solar company in 2012.
After years in the renewable energy field, Phil decided to unite his passions for solar power and craft beer — creating a fully off-grid brewery that would showcase what’s possible when technology and nature work together.
That dream became Arbrū — Canada’s first solar-powered brewpub, and home of The Solar Beer Project.