Gatorade Plant Draws on Solar Energy

When you think of Gatorade and green, you probably think of that neonish color in the beverage. Maybe something along the lines of what Steelers coach Mike Tomlin got doused with last night. But the sports drink maker is also using solar power at a factory in Arizona to reduce reliance on the electric grid and control costs.

The Arizona Republic reports that Gatorade installed a 500-kilowatt solar system occupying more than an acre and a half on the roof of the distribution center attached to its manufacturing complex in Tolleson. That makes it Arizona’s largest customer-owned solar project. The panels allow Gatorade to save 40 percent on its electric costs for the distribution center.

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Gatorade’s panels will produce about 783,000 kwh per year—enough to power 51 households—and will offset about 392 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, the newspaper reports. The company received a variety of incentives to install the system, including $1.2 million from the Salt River Project utility.

While Arizona has seem some impressive solar installations recently, solar use is still relatively low, the newspaper said. That’s probably because power remains fairly cheap, and businesses don’t want to make the investment it would take to add panels.

Gatorade and parent Pepsi Co. have been adding green buildings at facilities around the country, including opening what was then the largest green food and beverage facility in the world in Virginia 2007. Pepsi Co says it plans to increase such investments when expansions happen.

Photo credit: Sandia National Laboratory

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