Southern Energy Management (SEM), a sustainable energy company based in North Carolina, has deployed SunPower’s 1.13 MW solar PV system at Marlboro Mushrooms’ farm in Pennsylvania.
Marlboro Mushrooms in West Marlborough Township, Pa.
Marlboro Mushrooms is the oldest mushroom farm in the country and has added a solar array to help counterbalance energy costs. Marlboro Mushrooms’ PV system is the largest solar array in Pennsylvania that includes nearly 5000 modules.
The mushroom farm is installed with SunPower's T0 tracking system based on GPS technology, which helps to ensure that all 4,953 SunPower 228 W solar modules perform efficiently. The solar system installation helps the company to save energy costs and leads them towards environmental stewardship and long-term sustainability.
A large amount of electricity is required to manage mushroom crops in a restricted environment. Hence, Marlboro Mushrooms had decided to utilize solar power, a natural way of producing electricity.
Tom Brosius of Marlboro Mushrooms stated that it is great to use sun's power as a renewable resource and they expect that the solar system will meet 100% of their energy needs every year. Harold Brosius of the company added that since the installation site of Marlboro Mushrooms slopes to the north, use of conventional fixed PV system will not be viable due to shading.