Aug 12 2008
Pacific Power Management, LLC, announced today that they have completed the design and installation of a 500 kilowatt DC solar electric system for Universal Forest Products (UFP) in Thornton, Calif. The $4.4 million project, which qualified for a $1.1 million solar rebate from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, was dedicated on Wednesday, August 6.
The state-of-the-art system is comprised of 3,311 Mitsubishi Electric 180-watt modules and one SatCon 500kW inverter. The system performance will be monitored by Pacific Power Management’s proprietary SolarWatch™ with a display monitor for real-time production measurement.
“We are proud to say we’re doing something that can help the environment like drawing on the sun, a renewable natural resource, which will power our plant for many decades to come,” said Max Jones, general manager of operations of Universal Forest Products. “This move to solar power follows along with UFP’s national goals, both environmentally and fiscally.”
The cost of the system’s installation was partially offset with $1.1 million in solar rebates from PG&E and is expected to generate 800,000 kWh per year, meeting approximately 60-70 percent of the total energy costs of the manufacturing plant. The high-performance system will help reduce UFP’s carbon footprint by displacing over 32 million pounds of carbon dioxide and provide enough power to supply 3,325 homes over a 25-year period.
“We’re pleased our solar panel technology has been used for this large scale wood fabrication plant installation,” added Gina Heng, director of sales and marketing for Mitsubishi Electric USA, Photovoltaic Division. “It is exciting to collaborate with two such innovative and respected companies.”
Commenting on the new installation, John Chin, account executive of service and sales at PG&E said, “We applaud Universal Forest Products for its vision and wisdom to better manage their energy costs while also helping the environment. Advancing solar is consistent with our customers' energy vision and our goals of encouraging the development of clean and renewable power.”
With energy costs skyrocketing, the solar installation will help UFP reduce their costs for the distribution center. When the plant is not operating, the solar system will feed electrical power back into PG&E’s electrical grid.
“UFP showed great initiative in going solar,” commented Mark Frederick, managing partner of Pacific Power Management. “They have shown real leadership in making such a large investment in our environment. After it has paid for itself it will help give them a competitive advantage, allowing them the ability to offer job security at their plant in Thornton. We are proud to have engineered and constructed this high-performance system for them.”