Paramount Farms Opens New Solar Energy System (1.1 MW, California)

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAPR809.htm

Paramount Farms, the world's largest vertically integrated supplier of pistachios and almonds, yesterday announced the opening of the Paramount Farms' Solar Plant, a 1.1 megawatt, $7.5 million solar energy plant in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Spanning eight acres, it is the largest single-site, privately-owned, operating solar plant in the U.S. and is expected to supply about 15 percent of the energy that the company’s nut processing facility uses each year.

The solar plant represents a significant initiative undertaken by the Central Valley’s farming community to lessen the burden on local municipal power suppliers by generating environmentally-friendly, sustainable alternatives.

According to the state’s Department of Food & Agriculture, California is the nation’s No. 1 agricultural producer and exporter with $32 billion in direct farm sales in 2005. Of California’s Top 10 agricultural communities, seven are located in the Central Valley, representing a combined agricultural value of more than $20 billion.

“Paramount Farms, a leader in the farming community, is committed to a balanced green strategy, one that utilizes clean energy to reduce costs and improve efficiency,” said Dave Szeflin, vice president, operations, Paramount Farms. “Today we’re pleased to break ground on the first phase of a long-term, comprehensive, solar-power initiative.”

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