How many football fields does it take to power a light bulb? How about 27,000 light bulbs?
A solar array covering more than seven football fields’ worth of land will soon energize the Perdue Farms Inc.’s chicken feed mill in Bridgeville, Del. Producing 1.6 megawatts of power at capacity, the solar panels will alleviate up to 2,100 megawatts of Perdue’s annual energy dependence. That equals about 27,000 light bulbs’ worth of energy.
In a star-studded open house, Perdue Farms welcomed U.S. senators and Delaware officials to christen the solar array on Aug. 8.
The solar field is part of a major collaboration between Perdue, the State of Delaware, Standard Solar builders and Washington Gas Energy Services, which installed and owns the solar field.
“One of great things about Delaware is we know how to partner,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). “We’re getting great things done.”
Harry Warren, president of Washington Gas, said Delaware’s “beautiful” agricultural and rural area reminded partners of the purpose of environmental sustainability.
Delaware law requires power companies to diversify their energy sources, which includes 3.5 percent solar power. Warren said the Perdue project helps
Washington Gas to expand its energy
offerings.
Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Key said the project “epitomizes agriculture’s history in Delaware. Agriculture often steps up and leads the way.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is one of the few senators representing a coastal state on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“Who understand solar power better than a farmer?” Coons said. “Who understands sustainability better than someone who is living on the very land that sustains his family?”
Originally, the 118,376-square-foot field was a marginally productive crop field, but Perdue found it would be more effective as a solar powerhouse. Construction on the 6,720 solar panels took about 10 weeks.
Perdue will purchase the solar power from Washington Gas Energy, a company based in the outskirts of Washington, D.C., that funded and owns the solar field.
The solar power could even prevent power outages during peak hours, since the feed mill will produce energy on sunny days, when nearby homes and businesses are cranking up air conditioning. Perdue’s relative energy independence could prevent the town power grid from being overworked.
Carper also emphasized the importance of reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil.
Solar power will replace around 25 percent of the chicken feed mill’s annual energy consumption, said Steve Schwalb, Perdue’s vice president of environmental sustainability. During peak hours, the sun will produce 90 percent of the mill’s energy demand.
Traditional energy sources are more likely to increase in price than solar power, Schwalb said, which contributed to Perdue’s willingness to make the switch.
The Bridgeville site is just half of the project. A second solar mega-field was expected to open in September at Perdue’s Salisbury, Md., headquarters. The two facilities together will make up one of the largest solar power systems in the Eastern U.S.
Solar power joins Perdue’s other green projects. Schwalb said facilities in Kentucky can already harness and burn the methane produced by animal waste, thus producing 19 percent of that facility’s energy.
Perdue also has a 10-year-old program for poultry litter recycling, which was another topic mentioned at the August event. Delmarva is known in some quarters for a slight agricultural odor, which permeated the open house, thanks to the nearby facility. Coons simply joked about it.
“This is the smell of money … and productive agriculture.”
