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July 19, 2005 Guadalupe, CA, USA: Teixeira Farms Irrigates Vegetable Fields with Solar Panels Abundant sunshine along California’s Central Coast has sown bountiful harvests for decades. Now one of the region’s largest vegetable growers, Teixeira Farms, is converting sunlight into electricity to irrigate 600 acres of farm land. One of the nation’s largest agricultural solar installations, a 112-kilowatt photovoltaic system, was officially connected yesterday at Teixeira Farms, Ranch 7 near Guadalupe, California. Approximately 2,500 MW of electricity is consumed by California farms for irrigation during peak demand periods – hot afternoons from May through October. The agricultural sector is more constrained than other large energy users by the time of day needed to irrigate crops and process produce. This makes a shift to solar power by farms an important part of easing pressure on the California grid and reducing air pollution. “We all know that eating broccoli is good for you,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Clean Energy Advocate with Environment California, the leading non-profit environmental group working to promote solar power. “Now, farmers such as Teixeira are showing us that growing solar-powered broccoli can be good for the farm and for society, too.” A million farms, homes and businesses throughout California will be able to follow Teixeira’s lead if the Million Solar Roofs bill, SB 1, passes the Assembly later this summer. The bill, sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger and authored by Senators Kevin Murray (Los Angeles) and John Campbell (Orange County) will provide ten years of financial incentives and enhanced consumer choice and protections to create a thriving, self-sufficient solar market by 2017. Reaching this goal will result in more than 3,000 MW of installed solar power capacity helping ease California’s growing energy needs. The Million Solar Roofs bill was passed by the state Senate on June 1 with a vote of 30-5 which included the senator representing the Central Coast, Abel Maldonado. “Increasing the use of solar energy in California is common sense,” said State Senator Abel Maldonado representing District 15 including Teixeira Ranch. “We reduce our need on foreign energy, we diversify and bring stability to the energy market, we reduce air pollution and it is cost effective. It is a win-win for everyone.” Two policy committees in the state Assembly also recently passed the historic measure within the past two weeks. The next vote will be in Assembly Appropriations Committee sometime between August 15 and August 26, and if passed, on to the Assembly Floor. “We are urging everyone to contact their Assemblymember and urge them to vote for the Million Solar Roofs bill,” said Del Chiaro. “We have a small window of opportunity to make solar farms, solar homes, solar businesses a mainstream, cost-effective reality for California.” The solar panels were installed by Santa Maria’s Solar Power Systems, Inc., and made by Shell Solar with a manufacturing facility in Ventura. |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Worldwater |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | jellyfisch (19.07.05 20:04:50) |
| Beitrag: | 80 von 69,854 (ID:17277212) |
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