Home › Industries › Agri-Processing & Mills

Agri-Processing & Mills

Run the whole shift on solar — and never buy diesel for the press again.

Oil presses, cashew and sesame processors, flour, feed and rice mills run heavy three-phase motors all day. That is exactly the load solar is built for — with a battery and soft starters to handle the surge.

Request a free energy audit See a site like yours →

3-phasemotor loads handled

3–6×lower start-up surge with VFD

3–4 yrspayback vs diesel (direct purchase)

$0upfront under EaaS

The problem

What processors and millers deal with.

Diesel is the largest line after raw material

A 15 kW press alone burns more than ₦12M of fuel a year on a generator.

Motor surge wrecks generators and batteries

Large motors draw 3–6× their running current at start-up — the reason cheap solar installs fail.

Grid power arrives when the shift is over

4–6 hours a day, rarely during production.

Export buyers want a lower carbon footprint

Cashew, sesame and shea buyers increasingly ask about processing energy.

What we deploy for you

Designed around how your business actually runs.

Solar sized to the shift

30–35 kWp for a single press; 250 kW–1.5 MW for a mill. Daytime production runs straight off the array.

VFD soft starters on every large motor

Cuts start-up surge 3–6×, protects inverter and battery, extends motor life.

Battery for surge, cloud and end-of-day

60–500 kWh LFP so the line never stalls.

Direct purchase or Energy-as-a-Service

Smaller sites buy outright, designed and commissioned by FBE; larger sites pay one monthly fee.

Typical customer: saves $30,000–60,000 per year in energy costs while eliminating diesel downtime and spoilage losses.

Calculate your saving

Who this is for

Businesses that fit.

Groundnut, palm kernel and soybean oil presses
Cashew, sesame and shea processors in northern and south-west Nigeria, Ghana
Flour, feed and rice mills running 500 kVA+ of generators
Any processor with 1,000+ litres of diesel a day

Not a fit yet? Smaller businesses can buy a system outright or start with our portable solar products.

Proof

How it works

From audit to operation in five steps.

Energy audit

We meter your load and map your cold chain. Free for qualifying businesses.

Design & proposal

System, monthly fee (or purchase price) and savings in writing.

Installation

Local partner team installs; FBE commissions. 10–14 weeks typical.

Operation

One monthly fee. We monitor 24/7 and handle every repair.

Savings

20–30% lower energy cost from month one.

FAQ

Agri-Processing & Mills questions.

Can solar start a 15 kW three-phase motor?

Yes, with a VFD soft starter and a high-surge hybrid inverter. That combination is standard in every FBE design — it is why the Reblong press runs its full 8-hour day on solar.

What size mill qualifies for Energy-as-a-Service?

Sites spending roughly US$2,000+ a month on energy. Local-currency mills need about US$1M of equipment (two standard sites) to qualify; smaller ones buy outright.

Do you supply the installer?

We design, supply and commission; installation is by our local partner team or your own solar-trained engineer working to our checklist.

How long until it's running?

Typically 10–14 weeks from order to an operating system.

Other industries