Strathmore packing house going solar

Villa Park Orchards Association in Strathmore will soon harvest a new commodity: the sun’s rays.

Jamie Logan, the company’s manager, said there are plans to finish installing 440,020 ground-mounted solar panels — 1-megawatt worth of solar energy — at the citrus packing house by mid-February.

On Wednesday, a crew with Sacramento-based Coldwell Solar Inc. worked on trenching the ground and installing panels, each about six feet tall.

Logan said the project is long overdue.

“What took forever was getting all the permits approved; it took months. Once that happened, parts started getting delivered and the crew showed up and they’re actually going up pretty fast,” Logan said, adding that work on the project began in
early January.

He said talks of installing solar panels began four years ago.

“A couple of young kids that work for Coldwell Solar walked in and made us a hell of a deal,” he said.

Though cost for the project is estimated at $3.16 million, the company is looking forward to long-term savings.

“It’s to save money. It saves on our power bill, which is pretty significant. With cold storage running year-round it only makes sense to do that,” he said.

Villa Park Orchards Association, an affiliate of Sunkist, employs approximately 100 people and has been in Strathmore since August of 2006.

Logan said the only other packing house in the area he is aware of that has solar panels is Magnolia Citrus Association on East Teapot Dome Avenue in Porterville.   

He said the idea of the project finally coming to fruition is “awesome.”

“It would be good to have it done,” he said.