WESLACO — H-E-B unveiled on Friday the installation of what it calls the largest rooftop solar panel system in the state at its Weslaco Retail Support Center.
In doing so, carbon dioxide emissions at the center will be reduced by more than 20,000 tons over the next 20 years — the equivalent of removing about 4,000 cars from U.S. roads, according to an H-E-B news release issued Thursday.
With more than 3,000 solar panels spanning 105,000 square feet, the 1.2 megawatt installation in Weslaco is also hailed as the largest in the company, and it took just a few weeks to erect.
“The project started June 8 and ended on June 30,” said Nicole Ceckiewicz, H-E-B’s public affairs intern for the border region.
She could not, however, determine how long ago the project was conceived or the amount of savings in utility costs that the new solar energy source will provide, which in the center’s case will accommodate between 45 to 55 percent of its electricity needs.
“The company has always been trying to go green and to be good stewards to the environment, so this is right along with what we’ve always done,” Ceckiewicz added, citing a commitment by the company to reduce CO2 emissions and the use of diesel fuel as well as promoting cleaner sources of energy and waste disposal.
H-E-B Public Affairs Senior Manager Linda Tovar said via email that the company was “thrilled about creating an innovative, clean, renewable energy source” for the center, which itself is a 408,000 sq. ft. facility that employs 120 people in service of more than 40 Rio Grande Valley stores.
At the unveiling ceremony on Friday, H-E-B also donated $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Weslaco “for environmental and conservation programming” in an educational capacity.
SolarCity designed, installed and will maintain the solar panels at the center. Erik Fogelberg, Commercial Sales and Storage Solutions senior vice president for SolarCity, said that his company was excited to learn of H-E-B’s plans.
“Texas is the nation’s largest energy producer, and also leads the country in energy consumption,” Fogelberg stated in the release. “With its high number of sunny days per year, the state has an incredible potential for solar power.”
Partnering with SolarCity since 2013, Direct Energy Business provides additional “expertise and market knowledge” for commercial and industrial customers’ Total Energy Management services.
“We are very excited to have been a part of this project, and we look forward to seeing the results that solar technology can bring to our valued customer, H-E-B,” Vice President David Brast said.
HEB unveils rooftop panels in Weslaco; hails installation as one of "largest in Texas"
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