Wineries and vineyards in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys in northern California have been going solar, one after the other, over the last decade. But Sonoma Wine Company waited for just the right time and just the right technology.

The company broke ground on a first-of-its-kind solar system Monday while former British Prime Minister Tony Blair watched.

The Sonoma Wine Company bought a photovoltaic and thermal solar combined system from Cogenra. Blair serves on the board of directors for a venture capital company that’s heavily invested in Cogenra, said Natasha Granoff, director of business development for the wine company.

He was also in Northern California and has an interest in green technologies, Granoff said. That’s why he attended.

“There was a lot of security,” she said. “But it was great to have him here.”

Wineries and vineyards are known to use a lot of electricity and a lot of hot water in their production.

“It’s pretty strong in the culture here,” Granoff said of solar installations.

The Sonoma Wine Company has been approached by solar venders for almost a decade, Granoff said.

“The payoff was something like 25 years,” she said.

It wasn’t enough for Sonoma. The company wanted to make efficiency improvements and shop around for new technology before making a decision, she said.

The company started working with engineers and consultants to reduce its energy consumption and make major efficiency improvements that cut down on the power the company would need for its operations in the first place, Granoff said.

After the company administration felt good about its energy use, it started looking for a system.

The Cogenra system, which combines thermal hot water heating solar panels with electric power generation, was the first solar system to appeal to the company, Granoff said.

“It’s much more efficient than a standard photovoltaic system,” she said.

The 15 Cogenra SunBase modules installed at the wine company will produce 64,000 kilowatts of electric power and 12,500 therms, enough to offset 10 percent of the company’s electricity needs and 45 percent of its natural gas use, according to a press release about the project.

Pictured: No, that's not a piece of the Starship Enterprise. It's Cogenra's new hybrid solar electric/thermal system.