Farmers Increasingly Counting on Sunshine for Energy Production

Pat Ricchiuti has always counted on California’s steady sunshine to bring out his peaches’ red blush and juicy, tangy sweetness.

Now, the second-generation farmer is also counting on the sun to run the conveyor belts that fill his packing shed, sorting, sizing and packaging 1.5 million boxes of fruit a year.

The farmer is tiling the roof of his 150,000-square-foot shed with 7,730 solar panels, each 40-by-48 inches.

By July 8, the solar rooftop will begin producing 1 megawatt of energy
SignOnSanDiego.com