The De Pue Rice Warehouse is garnering about 80 percent of its electricity needs from a recently added solar array.
The rice drying warehouse in Maxwell, Calif., has a five-acre ground-mount solar system with generating capacity of 1 megawatt.
The facility uses Suntech solar panels with Sunseeker single axis trackers. Goodwin Self Eco Consulting helped with the project.
The solar array is projected to equate an emissions reduction of 1,500 metric tons a year, or about the same carbon captured by a 322-acre forest in a year.
De Pue president Kevin Dennis said he considered 10 solar companies during the process.
De Pue is estimated to be able to pay back the cost of the system in seven years, meaning it will be getting a portion of its electricity free after that.
While De Pue had room to mount its solar array on the ground, most companies adding solar to warehouses do so on the roof, because of its inherent flatness and proximity to the needed power.
For instance, Smucker Natural Foods recently added solar to the roof of one of its warehouses.
