Environmental Leader

Paramount Farms, a supplier of pistachios and almonds, has opened a 1.1 mega-watt, $7.5 million solar plant in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Spanning eight acres, it is the largest privately-owned, operating solar plant in the U.S., according to the company, and is expected to supply about 15 percent of the energy that the company’s nut processing facility uses each year.

The plant was built and installed by SolarCraft. According to Chris Bunas, vice president, the 1.1 mega-watt plant is expected to generate enough clean electricity each day to power about 300 average homes, sparing nearly 2,600 tons of harmful greenhouse gases annually.

The alternative power generated by the plant will ease the burden on local power supplier Pacific Gas & Electric and the California power grid while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. Energy generated by the plant contributes to the municipal power grid, supplementing the city’s power supply.

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