Solar Candy? From Mars?
M&M chocolate candies just took on a new shade of green. Mars Candy recently installed the nation’s largest photovoltaic array at a food production facility in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The 2.2-megawatt solar system is made up of 28,680 solar power panels in a field next to the candy plant.
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) will operate and maintain the solar power plant. The resulting solar electricity will be purchased by Mars through a power purchase agreement. The “solar garden” will provide 20 percent of the Mars facility’s energy needs at peak output. The solar modules are thin-film panels provided by First Solar, a Tempe, Arizona-based international leader in thin-film solar production.
According to Cooler Planet, the array is the 11th largest PV project in the United States. For plant operator PSEG, the system will help the utility meet New Jersey’s ambitious renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requiring 30 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewables by 2020.
For Mars, the project is part of the company’s ongoing goal of greening its production facility. A series of remodeling projects have accompanied the solar installation, including installing water conservation measures, such as low-flow toilets, sinks and water fountains, energy efficient lighting and Smart Grid monitoring systems. Mars is aiming for LEED Gold certification for the plant.
Not only have brands like M&Ms, Snickers and Twix gone a lot greener, but that famous yellow M&M packaging has taken on a whole new meaning.
Photo Credit: Acorn Amigos & epk
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Posted on November 19th in Solar Products by Dan.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:46 am
It’s a start. Now if only Mars would stop using child labor to source its cheap chocolate! I think true greenness also includes social responsibility.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:53 am
I agree 100 percent! I’ve been hearing and talking a lot lately about this idea of a “triple bottom line” for green business that factors not only profit, but people and environment as well. All are equal entities in the new business model. It is an essential shift in paradigm that will be necessary to achieve the “true greenness” you speak of.