According to Asahi, which owns Carlton & United Breweries, that’s enough to power 800 homes and 9000 beer fridges or brew 150 million stubbies a year at its peak capacity of 3 Mw.

It adds to a growing number of major corporates, such as Sun Metals in Townsville, Woolworths and Telstra who have built their own solar farms.

The Asahi solar farm is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 100,000 tonnes over the next 25 years.

Yatala Brewery plant manager Tom Robinson said while the panels were not enough to power the entire brewery, it was committed to making the site more sustainable.

“The beer itself won’t change, with the same ingredients and brewing methods used. Only now when the sun’s making you hot, it’ll also be making you a cold one.”

Asahi also wants all of its electricity use in Australia to be from renewable sources by 2025 and to reduce its total emissions by 50 per cent.

“We’ve covered virtually every bit of available space at the Yatala brewery with panels,” Robinson said. 

“While it’s not enough to power the entire brewery, our goal is to ensure Yatala is powered entirely by a mix of directly-sourced and offset solar electricity within four years, in line with Asahi Beverages’ targets.’’