Cooling a Central Valley crop and delivery system with on-site power

FORCED-AIR FRUIT COOLING FACILTY IN FIREBAUGH, CA

THE CHALLENGE

The San Joaquin Valley’s high-value melon crop has to be kept at a precise temperature once it leaves the field. Westside Produce is responsible for moving thousands of pounds of melon from hot fields to cool storage using elaborate computer-controlled cooling tunnels. This high-tech operation requires proper temperature zones, and maintaining those zones requires massive amounts of energy.

THE PROCESS

Designed & installed a one megawatt, ground-mounted solar electric system

THE RESULT

Taking advantage of a large piece of property adjacent to the cooling facility, Barrier designed and installed a ground-mounted solar electric system that includes more than 3,400 solar panels and generates more than 1.6 million kilowatt hours of power annually. That much power is enough to keep the cooling facility’s 16 tunnels at just the proper chill level, seamlessly cooling the valuable commodity as it comes in from the fields and allowing for temperature-controlled storage.

1 megawatt, ground-mounted solar electric system

“We presented Barrier with an enormous challenge – help us produce enough energy on-site to keep thousands of pounds of fresh fruit at the proper temperature. Barrier delivered a successful solution that has us generating more than 1.6 million kilowatt hours of power right outside our doors”