"We understand growers have high and variable energy needs. Unexpected increases in electricity prices have a costly impact on their bottom line. With California’s drought, most farmers may have to turn to wells to pump water. This, in turn, will increase their demand for electricity and thereby increase the overall cost of doing business. In addition, the new NEMA (Net Energy Metering Aggregated) program, skyrocketing electric bills and low interest rates have created an opportune environment for adopting solar power solutions. Raven Farms, by switching to solar power has effectively removed the variability of cost of goods due to fluctuating energy costs and demands. With NEMA, we are able to build a single central solar power system to offset multiple meters," said Mehmet Cercioglu, Director of Business Development of Sunvalley Solar.
Once completed, the system will generate more than 1.1 million kWh of clean energy to offset 75% of the facility’s electric bill. The system is expected to pay for itself in roughly 4 years and reduce the plant’s carbon footprint by over 1.6 million pounds of CO2 per year.
Raven Farms is but one of the many growers, packers, dairies and cold storage facilities throughout the state that Sunvalley Solar has helped since 2007.