Usegui Farms has turned barren farm land into a rip commodity with solar energy. Vista Solar along with Uesugi Farms’ General Manager Pete Aiello and several local leaders dedicated the solar power project with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The solar project was installed by Vista Solar and is now producing enough power from the sun to offset 91.5 percent of the farm’s electrical demand. Along with a zero-down operating base lease, the system is projected to create more than $2.6 million in savings over the next 25 years.

“Vista Solar did an excellent job helping us turn a business liability into an asset,” said General Manager Pete Aiello. “Not only did they provide professionalism and expertise in designing and installing the system, but they excelled in all the aspects surrounding it, including obtaining the financing and educating our staff about solar.”

With a low base flood elevation, this parcel of farmland has been prone to flooding, making it nearly impossible to grow crops. Uesugi Farms contracted with Vista Solar to create a design that could transform the unusable land into a solar generation facility. Elevated six feet off the ground to avoid flood damage, the system comprised of 300 Watt Canadian Solar panels and 3-phase, transformerless Refusol string inverters is capable of producing more than 1.25 million kilowatt hours of solar energy annually – enough energy to power more than 100 homes.

“Forward-thinking businesses like Uesugi Farms are motivated by the significant savings that solar can provide for their bottom line, but at the end of the day, they often have several other mission-critical places where their capital is needed. Being able to provide a way to start saving with solar right away while preserving precious capital and lines of credit is one of the things that makes this project and Vista Solar so unique,” said Jaymes Callinan, vice president of Vista Solar.

With the commissioning of their new solar system, Uesugi Farms has deepened its commitment to environmental stewardship by converting a barren plot of land into a carbon-offsetting, renewable energy-generator while adhering to their fiduciary duties as a family business. Aiello said this is a legacy decision that will benefit generations to come.