Community Engagement
Protecting and Investing in Our Environment with New Solar Rooftop Array
Apr 14, 2023
by
IDEX Health & Science
As we celebrate Earth Day, IDEX Health & Science’s 67,000 sq. ft facility in Rohnert Park, CA is in the final stage of activating its rooftop solar array—offsetting their electric use from the public utility by 90%-97% and reducing energy costs from .18-.22 cents per kWh to .04 cents per kWh. The high cost of energy is not the only driving force behind this project. IDEX Health & Science is committed to understanding its operating footprint and reducing its environmental impact through facts and metrics.
“Creating clean energy for our site is important to our goals at IH&S and IDEX. We know we have an impact on our environment and being able to take action to mitigate that impact is part of our identity. You also need metrics to understand your energy use and take responsive action. If you don’t measure it, you don’t know how to address it,” said Jon Wambold, Site Leader at Rohnert Park.
And, the metrics are impressive. The solar panels will have a 4 ½ year payback and will last 25 years which will provide significant cost savings, and the long-term environmental benefits far outweigh the monetary benefit.
Key environmental benefits of the new rooftop solar array:
- Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1,731,051 miles driven per year, per car—removing 121 cars per year from the road
- CO2 emission equivalent of 761,302 pounds of coal burned per year
- Carbon sequestered by 844 acres of US forest per year
- Overall, there would be a CO2 reduction of 18,975 tons after twenty-five years
The solar system will also serve as an emergency backup power. On average, Rohnert Park has 4-6 power outages a year with a loss of 4 hours of production for each outage. The backup system has AI features to help optimize usage during peak periods to further reduce environmental impact and costs.
“Overall, this is a very rewarding project, but it has come with its challenges. We are grateful that IDEX Corporation supported a project of this scale. We are looking forward to generating energy and obtaining the operational efficiencies for the next 2 ½ to 3 decades,” added Wambold.