100% Solar-Powered Ice Cream

​

At Willard Scoops, sunny days have always been good for ice cream. Now they help make it too.

​

Scoops makes more than 8,000 gallons and doles out over 100,000 scoops of ice cream every year, and as of June 2026, it's all solar-powered! Our rooftop solar system helps run every part of the shop, from churning our ice cream to keeping it frozen, cooling the shop on hot summer days, and powering the equipment behind more than 100,000 scoops of ice cream each year.

​

That includes our ice cream maker, a walk-in freezer, nine small freezers, air conditioning, lights, and other shop appliances. In other words: from sun to scoop.

You can read the Portland Press Herald story here: South Portland shop making ice cream using the sun. 

​

Our solar project was made possible in part through support from Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), a Brunswick-based nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that helps Maine businesses, farms, and community facilities finance solar installations.

You can read CEI’s press release here: Willard Scoops Becomes Maine’s First 100% Solar-Powered Ice Cream Maker.

​

Garbage to Garden​​

​

Solar is only one part of the bigger picture.

​

In 2024, Willard Scoops also began transitioning our cups, spoons, and other everyday consumables to compostable materials. Through our partnership with Garbage to Garden, we are helping divert an estimated 15,000 pounds of waste each year from the landfill through our partnership with the non-profit Garbage to Garden.

​

The Future

​

We are always looking for practical ways to make Scoops more sustainable, from energy use to packaging to waste reduction.

 

Have a good idea? Come by the shop and tell us. We are all ears!