Maryland Gov Martin O’Malley and other state dignitaries celebrated the completion of one of the largest commercially owned solar power systems in the eastern United States at Perdue Inc’s corporate headquarters.
Executives from project partners Perdue, Standard Solar Inc, and Washington Gas Energy Services (WGES) also attended an open house at the site to observe the array of 5,040 solar panels.
“By demonstrating through smart, targeted investments that we’re committed to solar, we position Maryland as a leader in solar energy,” said O’Malley.
The installation on six acres of Perdue property in Salisbury MD will supply electricity to adjacent Perdue corporate headquarters, and is the final phase of nearly 12,000 panels installed at two company facilities.
The panels are owned by WGES and were installed by Standard Solar. Perdue will purchase green electricity generated by the solar panels at guaranteed prices. The first phase of the installation is in Bridgeville DE and was completed in August 2011.
Both systems will generate a combined average of 3,700-megawatt hours of electricity each year, or the amount of power used by 340 typical US homes. At peak production, the panels will produce as much as 90% of the electrical demand for each Perdue facility.
Steve Schwalb, Perdue’s vice-president of environmental sustainability, estimated the clean electricity from the solar panels will reduce carbon emissions by 3,000 tons per year, the equivalent of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from 300,000 gallons of gasoline per year, or nearly 4.5 million gallons through the life of the 15-year contract.
Perdue is engaged in other alternative energy initiatives, including a biogas-to-energy project at its Cromwell KY poultry processing facility and a biomass burning installation at its Cofield NC soybean processing plant. Additionally, the company is renovating its corporate office to the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards.
View a time-lapse video of construction of Perdue’s new solar farm at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwZz47Qkx7Q.
The Perdue brand is a leading brand of fresh chicken in the eastern United States, and Perdue Farms offers a roster of food products for consumers and foodservice.
For more information, visit www.perdue.com.
