BY TIM WALL ON OCTOBER 27, 2020

THIS IS OUR CURRENT MANUFACTURER!!

Solar power generation at pet food facilities

In Harvard, Illinois, USA, Pedigree Ovens and The Pound Bakery completed installing 200,000 square feet of solar panels in early October. Installation took three months to complete. The photovoltaic array will supply all the 212,000-square-foot facility’s electricity. The facility makes private label pet treats and the Pound Bakery’s own brands. The solar array forms the shape of a bone and pawprint covering 4.5 acres.

“We have added equipment and in 2019 we were fitted to create 10% more power than we needed in 2019,” Lexie Berglund, The Pound Bakery president, said in an email.

However, the company doesn’t plan to produce an excess of solar energy to sell back to the grid. The installation of the panels created a surge in local employment, while the ongoing maintenance may also create a few jobs, Berglund said.

“It is a popular topic these days,” she said. “Everyone is talking sustainable products. We are proud to offer a renewable energy to produce pet treats.”

Pedigree Ovens worked with Simpleray to design the 1.703-kilowatt solar power system. With 4,386 solar modules, the system will produce over 2,044,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually. The company estimated the photovoltaics will offset 1,456 tons of greenhouse gases each year. During the next 25 years, a total of 51,000,000 kWh may be produced, which equates to 9,00 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the power used to charge 1.15 billion smartphones, 22,090,165 miles being driven by a passenger vehicle, and prevents 50 rail cars of coal from being burned.