In California, where over one-third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of the country's fruits and nuts are grown, businesses in the agricultural industry are looking for ways to reduce costs while continuing to deliver high quality products. In one of the nation's sunniest states, farmers, food processers, beverage suppliers and more have used complete solar solutions to save on one of their largest operating expenses: electricity.
One grower-owned almond processor, based in the 7-square-mile town of Buttonwillow, Calif., now offsets 90 percent of its electricity costs with a 1-megawatt SunPower Helix system. Golden Empire Shelling can see up to 70 million pounds of almonds roll through its state-of-the-art facility each year. With limited land and water resources in the area, the company chose a solar solution to help counteract the shortcomings.
"Land and water come at a premium in our valley, so it was imperative that we get the most value out of our over 4-acre solar installation," said John Wynn, general manager of Golden Empire Shelling and 20-year almond industry veteran. "With the... solar generated by our SunPower Helix system, Golden Empire Shelling will be able to dramatically reduce electricity costs and our carbon footprint for at least the next 20 years."
Their solar solution was installed by Sunpower who claims that their Helix platform is the world's first fully-integrated solar solution for commercial customers. Their system can be for installed as a carport, on the roof, or as a ground-mounted technology making it convenientfor small scale growers.
source: broadwayworld.com
