Colusa Rice Company — The Colusa Rice facility dries and stores harvested rice in sunny Central California. In 2007, it looked to solar power as a way to both help the environment and better manage energy costs. Their vision and wisdom led to the construction of a 314 kW solar electric system that is anticipated to generate more than 402,000 kWh per year—enough to power 60 average homes. Conergy engineers made sure that all system components were optimized for Colusa to gain maximum yields; and, our installers had the 1,848 modules in place within 6 weeks. Since the solar array installation provides more electricity than the company needs, it exports excess electricity to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The system, which will eliminate 143 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, qualified for a solar rebate of nearly $800,000 from PG&E’s self-generation incentive program.

Warmerdam Packing Center — Located in California’s sun drenched San Joaquin Valley, the Warmerdam fruit packing facility hosts one of the largest solar energy systems in the agriculture industry. The installation includes 6,600 modules and was commissioned in early 2008. This roof-mounted solar array is anticipated to produce 1.2 MWh per year. The Warmerdam plant is known for innovative handling, cooling and packaging of produce such as cherries and kiwis. To support this operation, the solar initiative will offset 60 percent of the electrical power needs of their packinghouse and cold storage facilities. Over the 25 year life of the system, it will reduce CO2 emissions equivalent to 124 million miles not driven.