SEYMOUR, CT (BRAIN)—Thule will put the summer sun to good use this year with a 318-kilowatt solar system installed on the roof of the company’s Seymour, Connecticut headquarters.
The system will generate 26 percent of the power used at the 108,000-square-foot warehouse.
“We are experts in maximizing a vehicle's roof space and we are pleased to be able to use our building’s roof space to reduce and stabilize our energy cost,” said Fred Clark, president of Thule.
The Thule solar PV system will consist of two separate arrays with a total of 1,876 solar panels, and will supply an estimated 324,800 kilowatts per year.
Thule will host the system under a power purchase agreement where Nautilus Solar Energy LLC, a developer of distributed generation and utility scale solar power projects, will own the solar system and Thule will purchase energy produced at a fixed price below current utility rate.
This allows Nautilus to receive federal tax incentives, rebates and renewable energy credits associated with the project.
The project will get a $1.3 million boost from the Connecticut Clean Energy fund’s On-site Renewable Distributed Energy Program.
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell lauded Thule’s environmental stewardship.
“Once the Thule solar PV system is installed, Connecticut as a whole will benefit from reduced demand on the grid and greenhouse gas reduction,” Rell said. “I am delighted that many of our resident businesses have been eager to embrace clean, renewable forms of energy generation.”
Thule has taken numerous steps in the past several years to minimize the company’s energy footprint including improvements in lighting, maintenance and operations and encouraging employees to ride bikes to work.
The solar system should be up and running by the end of July.
— Nicole Formosa
