As more U.S. manufacturers eye on-site solar to manage rising energy costs and operational risk, the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar sector is quickly evolving.
A new solar project in Glendale, Ariz., could be a blueprint for the future.
Modular homebuilder Cavco Industries installed over 1.2 MW of rooftop and canopy solar at their new climate-controlled, 120,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in the first proof of concept of their relationship with Solar One, a C&I solar developer, and inverter company SolarEdge.
The system, which offsets about 62% of the site’s total energy consumption, cost Cavco $2.2 million in cash. That price doesn’t include the cost of building the factory itself, which, according to Steve Like, Cavco’s senior vice president, “had a lot of zeros at the end.”
What’s perhaps most telling, however, is how the project came together.
“The integration and coordination on the facility showed it is possible to do something of this scope while operating a well-oiled machine,” Aaron Wilson, Solar One’s CEO told pv magazine USA.
Wilson’s team worked with Cavco to expand the system mid-design to include rooftop solar. This improved the overall return of investment and offset energy costs by 62% despite bumping up costs by two-thirds.
“It’s got to be carefully choreographed like a tap dance to move smoothly,” Wilson said, in order to avoid impacting Cavco’s “golden goose,” or the factory’s end product: houses.
Installing solar at the manufacturing plant did impact the houses, but not how you might expect.
“When our utility costs are less, that directly offsets what the price is going to be,” Like told pv magazine USA, adding that Cavco needs consistent margins over time to be successful. Getting that via energy savings from solar helps lower manufacturing costs and preserve affordability for homebuyers.
It’s a strategic shift that the trio sees as increasingly replicable by other manufacturers. For Marty Rogers, the general manager for North America at SolarEdge, the project is indicative of a broader inflection point.
“The market has evolved from when I started, where it was you stick a box on the wall and you say good luck,” Rogers said. While the evolution of the industry is dramatic, he said, so is the “need for skilled labor at the install site and in the project planning and management to ensure a safe and productive environment for the working life of the solar system.”
Cavco isn’t stopping with just one of their 30+ facilities across the United States and Mexico.
“This one went so well that we thought, “Shoot, let’s see what else we can do!” Like said, noting that three new canopy-based systems (also from Solar One and SolarEdge) are under construction in New Mexico and Pennsylvania.
In his eyes, it’s the only logical way manufacturers can approach their energy strategies today.
“I can’t imagine a situation where it wouldn’t make sense for any facility with a significant amount of rooftop to look into solar,” Like said. “It’s an easy decision when the economics have been so favorable.”
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