California Aluminum-Products Factory Goes Green With Solar
Friday, May 21st 2010 8:35 PM
By GetSolar Staff.
An aluminum-products plant in Visalia, California is using solar panels to reduce its carbon footprint and make its electricity costs more predictable.
The factory is owned by aluminum giant Alcoa. It produces aluminum building products - and it relies on a 588,000-watt solar photovoltaic installation on the roof to produce electricity.
The Visalia plant harnesses sunlight for more than just electricity generation. There are more than 200 solar tubes installed in the roof of the plant, which allow light to pass through to the factory floor and illuminate the facility for free.
The use of solar energy at the Visalia factory is just one part of Alcoa's push to go green. This week, the company participated in the launch of the Green Products Innovation Institute at Google's corporate campus in Mountain View, California.
The institute, which will be based in San Francisco, will help certify the sustainability of a variety of products on the basis of their health impacts, recyclability, renewable energy use, water conservation and social responsibility.
Several Alcoa products made at Visalia already qualify for sustainability certification, the company said. As Alcoa found, the use of renewable power gets recognized - and, of course, it can save money, too.
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An aluminum-products plant in Visalia, California is using solar panels to reduce its carbon footprint and make its electricity costs more predictable.
