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The San
Luis Obispo Chamber has some distinct
advantages when it comes to homegrown
business development.
San Luis Obispo, located close to
California's Central Coast, offers a
location with a climate that is close to
perfect and land and seascapes to match
together with a world class college, the
California Polytechnic University. It is no
surprise to see graduates remaining in the
area creating successful companies that grow
and prosper.
Renewable Energy Concepts (REC) was
founded in 1997 by California Polytechnic
graduates Fred Sisson and Judy Ledford. REC
has since grown into one of the largest
solar installation companies in the United
States with a service area that includes
Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New
Jersey, and Oregon.
REC installs solar electric systems on
residential homes and also performs larger
business installations. REC Solar is one of
only a few solar electric companies in
California with engineers certified by the
North American Board of Certified Energy
Practitioners.
REC
Solar, Inc. specializes in grid-tied solar
electric design and installation, offering
the latest technology, state of the art
equipment, and financing opportunities for
all commercial and residential customers.
A few examples:
Costco
Just in time for summer, the Visalia,
Calif., Costco Wholesale Corp. warehouse has
turned on a new 500-kilowatt solar
photovoltaic system on the rooftop. About
3,100 panels were installed by REC Solar of
San Luis Obispo. The system provides about
25 percent of the energy needs of the
warehouse, said Franz Lazarus, Costco senior
vice president, administration, for global
operations.
Castle Rock Sales / VBZ
Even bigger energy users than the big-box
retailers are the many valley cold-storage
facilities that can match the size of
big-box stores. Here, power costs to chill
fruit and other food products can amount to
25 percent of the cost of operating.
This month, two new REC Solar units are
going up in southern Tulare County, costing
about $4.5 million each, at Castle Rock
Sales and VBZ, both in Richgrove. Both
are major grape growers that have contracted
with REC to do the work, which is already
under way. Each project is expected to
provide 50 percent of the power needs for
these electricity-hungry buildings. The
solar units should be fully in place by
August.
"Our power rates went up March 1 anyway,"
said Mike Johnson, Castle Rock operations
manager. "This has helped improve the
payback period for installing solar to 4 to
4 1/2 years." That's a big change. "Used to
be, solar would take 15 years to pay off,"
he said.
Companies that can pay off solar
installations in less than five years will
be getting free electricity for the
remaining life of the arrays, which is
expected to be at least another 20 years.
Mr. Johnson said the solar modules are being
installed next to the company's huge
300,000-square-foot cold-storage building,
ready for most of this year's grape harvest.
Dupont
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a
division of DuPont in Kauai, Hawaii, uses
innovative technology in its crop seed
research and development. With REC Solar's
completion of a 280 kW PV solar plant at the
facility in December 2008, the company will
be powering its research with
state-of-the-art renewable energy as well.
The one-acre ground-mount array of 1,472
190-watt Evergreen photovoltaic modules is
expected to generate up to 55 percent of
Pioneer's total annual energy consumption.
At more than 405,000 kWh per year, the solar
plant is providing enough clean, renewable
energy to power 64 average-sized homes,
reducing annual CO2 emissions equivalent to
removing 100 cars from the roads, and saving
Pioneer about $125,000 in annual energy
costs.
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of Commerce, click
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