Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. is building Vermont’s largest solar array on top of the distribution center of the Green Mountain Coffee facility in Waterbury, the company said.
Construction of the 100 kW photovoltaic array is expected to begin in the spring of 2009 and be completed by summer.
The company said the solar array is the result of an innovative partnership between the coffee company, the state of Vermont, Green Mountain Power and groSolar, a North American provider of solar energy solutions.
The electricity generated by approximately 530 solar panels at the site will produce a small percentage of the total electricity Green Mountain Coffee needs for its production facilities in Waterbury. Company officials say the greater benefit is in showing what is possible for the future.
“Renewable energy must be a part of our overall energy strategy,” says Paul Comey, Vice President of Environmental Affairs for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. “We want to show our state and federal governments that solar energy works, and that we need a policy that provides a broad-reaching structure for renewable energy.”