Finance, Industrial, Solar  -  October 12, 2017

Chiquita facility installs sun-tracking solar project

Photo of the rooftop solar tracker installation at Chiquita's industrial building provided by Business Wire.

At its massive cold storage industrial building in Oxnard, Calif., Chiquita Brands International is benefitting from the recent installation of a 1 MW solar array equipped with technology that allows its panel to "track" the sun's movement to generate more electricity than traditional panels. 

The project, which utilizes more than 2,900 trackers, covers 368,000 square feet of Chiquita's leased, 528,000 square-foot building owned by private real estate company Harry Ross Industries. Harry Ross Industries financed and owns the project, though the solar power it generates will benefit Chiquita, according to an Oct. 11 news release. 

Robert Ross, managing partner at Harry Ross Industries said the addition of the technology at its facility made sense for a number of reasons, especially given that "it required less investment to get the same output" as a stationary system. 

"We are longtime supporters of solar energy, both for its environmental and economic benefits," Ross said in a statement. "It's also vitally important to HRI that we provide the most environmentally friendly facilities to our tenants.”

The installation is part of a broader, recently formed strategic partnership between solar technology firm Edisun Microgrids Inc. and general contracting firm West Hills Construction Inc. to develop up to 20 MW of commercial and industrial solar projects using the tracking technology.