D'Arrigo Bros. Co., a California fruit and vegetable grower, packer, and shipper, has a new 2.2 megawatt solar power system in Salinas installed by CalCom Solar.

The solar system is the largest customer-owned net-metered solar power project in Monterey County.

“We’ve always put our strong sustainability ethic into practice; harvesting the sun’s power to generate electricity is consistent with our goals,” said John D’Arrigo, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the D’Arrigo Bros. board. 

He says the company evaluates and assesses technologies and investments to ensure optimal quality and efficiency to make improvements across the operation.

“Solar deployment enhances our business and sustainability goals,” D’Ariggo said. “It’s a crucial resource that makes great environmental and economic sense, enabling us to reduce our energy costs while improving the bottom line.”

Dylan Dupree, CalCom Solar’s vice president of business development, said the new solar power system is outfitted with NEXTracker’s advanced trackers. The system will generate 4,320,600 kWh annually.

“D’Arrigo Bros. will significantly lower operational costs annually on utility bills,” Dupree said. “The system will help D’Arrigo hedge against future utility rate increases, delivering more than $20 million in utility savings over the next 25 years.”

The project was approved by PG&E in late April.

CalCom says its system will significantly reduce CO2 emissions - the equivalent of not driving 7,282,000 miles per year.

“By installing solar, our operational and financial efficiency practices will improve tremendously – as we’ll be able to reduce our peak electrical demand,” said Steve De Lorimier, D’Arrigo’s vice president of the Northern District.

The new solar PV array is interconnected under PG&E’s Net Energy Metering Aggregation (NEMA) program. This allows D’Arrigo to offset many farm meters with one solar PV system.

CalCom Solar installed NEXTracker technology in this array, a self-powered tracking technology aligned with CalCom’s goal to help agricultural customers increase energy yield while lowering costs. 

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