Farming and sunshine go together like a horse and...

Pat Ricchiuti, owner of P-R Farms in Clovis and the president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, now depends on the sun to save him money on his monthly electric bill.

In July 2005, Mr. Ricchiuti completed one of California’s largest privately-owned solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, situated on the roof of his 150,000-square foot packing house in the middle of agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley. The 928 kW system, installed by PowerLight, helps provide energy for the processing and cold storage of over a million boxes of fruit every year.

The solar array has a variety of benefits for P-R Farms.

The system can provide up to 50 percent of the energy needs of the packing facility and cold room when operating at full capacity.

If at any point the array produces more energy than can be used on the farm, it simply feeds into the regional electricity grid.

Credit from the excess energy can be used up to a year later, allowing Mr. Ricchiuti to profit from sunshine year-round, even at night and outside of the peak fruit season.

With the solar array, Mr. Ricchiuti has seen drastic cuts in his energy bills. Before the installation of the system, it was not unusual for the farmer to pay more than $250,000 per year for electricity to run the packing house and cold storage facility. In the peak of the summer, monthly bills could range as high as $35,000. After the solar panels became active in July 2005, his monthly electric bill dropped to just over $9,000. In some months, electricity costs for cold storage and packing are now more than 80 percent less than before.

Mr. Ricchiuti’s system does more than save him money—it reduces the need for energy companies to install infrastructure like power lines and power plants. In recognition of the benefits that solar energy provides to society as a whole by producing power during long and hot summer days, when demand for power is highest, utility companies and the state and federal government offer rebates and tax incentives for solar energy.

In the case of P-R farms, these incentives covered half of the total cost.

After rebates, Mr. Ricchiuti invested $3.2 million in his solar array. Mr. Ricchiuti expects the investment to be fully paid off in a total of 10 years—after which the energy produced by the solar panels will be pure profit. With a lifetime of up to 30 years, the solar panels are a smart long-term investment.

“I see this as a way to become more competitive,” said Mr. Ricchiuti. “It makes economic sense.”

The solar panels also produce energy with zero global warming pollution. The panels reduce the need to draw power from California’s power grid, avoiding carbon dioxide emissions from power plants running on natural gas or coal.

Every year, the solar array effectively reduces California’s global warming pollution by 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide. 7 Over their 30-year expected lifespan, the solar panels could prevent as much as 48 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissons. 8 “I wanted, in some way, to help clean up the environment and give agriculture a good name,” explained Mr. Ricchiuti. “We’re just doing our share.”