Farm Focus: We are going SOLAR!!

Francisco and Ediberto having some fun in front of new packing shed - soon to be covered in solar panels.

Francisco and Ediberto having some fun in front of new packing shed – soon to be covered in solar panels.

We are very excited to be taking another big step towards making our farm more sustainable. We are going solar!

Early in 2014 we will have solar panels installed on the roofs of our old packing shed, offices, new packing shed, and our vermicompost out- buildings. There will also be a ground-mounted array adjacent to our on farm residences. All in all, we’ll be covering about 14,000 sq. ft. of roof space with panels.

We anticipate a full offset of energy usage from the installation. This means the sun will be powering the coolers and packing lines in our packing sheds, all of our office and Farm Kitchen equipment and light- ing, and the home energy usage of 11 private residences (including Farmer Al and Becky’s).

Once we pay off the cost of the installation in energy savings, we hope the switch to solar will make our business more profitable. But more importantly, we are really thrilled to be making a great leap forward in our efforts to offset our impact on the environment.

old packing shed & office roof - also soon to be covered in solar panels.

old packing shed & office roof – also soon to be covered in solar panels.

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