Mushroom Farm Counts on
Solar for Perfect Crop
Challenge Marlboro Mushroom
For Marlboro Mushrooms, keeping 100,000 square feet of growing rooms Quick Facts
at precise temperatures and moisture levels requires a careful tending of
energy. The family-owned farm, growing mushrooms since 1910, was looking Ground Mount with
for a reliable, clean energy solution that would keep the farm productive for Sun-Tracking Capability
Installation Type
generations to come.
SunPower’s Solution 1.13MW on 7 acres
Total System Size
Marlboro Mushrooms set aside seven acres of farmland adjacent to its
growing rooms where SunPower engineered, designed and built a 1.13MW
4,983
ground-mount solar installation with sun-tracking capability.
Number of Panels
Customer Benefit
1,783 MWh
Marlboro Mushrooms, which owns the installation, reports that the system
Estimated Annual Output
has delivered on their expectations of reliability, quality and value—performing
at or above projections since it was commissioned in November 2011. The solar
installation produces more than 1,700 MWh of clean energy for mushroom 1.3 Million pounds
Annual Coal Emissions Offset
farming operations each year.
1
“We were looking for a feature Marlboro Mushrooms is a fifth-generation family farm committed
to distinguish us from other to renewable energy.
mushroom producers. To be Founded in 1910, Marlboro Mushrooms in West Grove, PA, is the oldest
able to demonstrate to our continuously operating mushroom farm in the U.S., producing more than four
buyers and consumers our million pounds of mushrooms annually. Brothers Tom and Harold Brosius
commitment to sustainable manage the family farm.
agriculture through the use Mushrooms are one of the most energy-reliant crops to produce. They
of renewable solar energy to are grown indoors in a carefully controlled 60º high-humidity environment
power our farm was important where they double in size every 24 hours. Most of the energy is used for air
to us.” conditioning and heating, and refrigeration is required for dehumidification
even in the winter months.
Tom Brosius
Owner, Marlboro Mushrooms
“Mushrooms require a constant back and forth between heating and
cooling,” explains Tom Brosius, co-owner. “We were looking for a clean
energy alternative to offset that consumption.”
Solar-powered mushrooms: a favorite for retail customers
Marlboro Mushrooms has dramatically reduced its energy costs since
completing the installation. In fact, there have been periods in the summer
months when the farm has generated more electricity than it uses. Today, the
farm no longer needs to purchase power from the grid—or worry about how
much CO2 is being emitted because of their energy consumption.
Going solar has also been good for business. Major retail chains have
contacted Brosius because they are interested in purchasing mushrooms
from the only solar-powered mushroom farm in the world. Food retailers
are especially concerned with greening their supply chains with sustainably
produced products.
2
“Solar power was an Only SunPower could deliver the right combination of power
opportunity to demonstrate and flexibility
to our community, and to The Brosius brothers talked to a number of different solar companies
our customers, that we are installing solar. But only one made the cut.
protecting the environment.
“The land we had set aside for the solar installation slopes downward to the
Solar was the right strategy north,” says Brosius. “If we had used conventional solar panels, they would
for our business. The fact have cast shade on each other during the day. Every other vendor we spoke
that we’re also saving on with recommended a fixed panel system. Only SunPower talked to us about
energy costs made a good installing high-efficiency panels with a tracker.”
idea a great idea. And we
The tracking panels not only eliminated the challenges of shade, they also
have caught the attention increased the power generated from the system by an average of 28 percent.
of produce buyers who want
“When we first looked into solar, we were hoping to be able to reduce some
to showcase our efforts.”
of our energy costs,” explains Brosius. “SunPower showed us how we could
Tom Brosius
install a solar system that could generate all the electric power we needed
Owner, Marlboro Mushrooms
to run the farm all year.”
Today, the farm’s 4,983 solar panels generate 1,700 MWh of clean energy
every year—consistently outperforming projections. The energy the farm
generates is the equivalent of powering more than 100 homes per year or
eliminating over 1 million pounds of burned coal from the atmosphere.
Installing solar from SunPower has enabled Marlboro be better
agricultural partners to the community, and by using less energy from the
grid, the homegrown company is doing its share to reduce emissions in
Eastern Pennsylvania.
SunPower Corporation
1.800.786.7693
sunpower.com
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of SunPower Corporation in the U.S. and other countries as well.
