ShareThisCalifornia farmers are bringing new meaning to acres of green.
What once implied crop-filled fields might just as well refer to thousands of solar panels spread across the land, providing clean, renewable energy to power growing and harvest chores and producing energy cost savings.
Just such a solar array was celebrated last week in Sutter County -- 5 acres of 11,922 photovoltaic modules under the gleaming sun, just north of Knights Landing where the Sacramento River separates Sutter and Yolo counties.
The 864-kilowatt system was built from September to January and has been operating at capacity since early March.
The beneficiary is the Sutter Basin Growers Cooperative, made up of 125 Northern California rice and bean growers. The solar system will help run rice and bean dryers during the co-op's intense harvest season, generally from September to November.
Last year, the co-op handled 120,000 sacks of beans (about 1.2 million pounds) and 2.1 million sacks of rice (about 21 million pounds.)
At off-peak times, power and energy credits are built up.
"It's a perfect situation for rice- and bean-drying operations and for ag-based companies that don't have to run power 24 hours a day and seven days a week," said Ray Davis, general manager of the cooperative.
Co-op energy savings have been projected at 80 percent, or $226,615, the first year.
The Sutter Basin system also is projected to result in an annual carbon dioxide offset of more than 1,000 tons.
The system was built by Conergy USA. Conergy is headquartered in Denver, but the Sutter Basin project was overseen by its Projects Group office in Sacramento.
The system's $4.5 million cost has been defrayed by state and federal solar tax incentives and other utility credits. Sutter Basin is leasing solar facilities through the Farm Credit System, with an option to purchase outright after 10 years.
The Sutter County system is the latest addition to about a dozen agriculture-related solar projects installed in the Central Valley in recent years.
That includes a 394-kilowatt solar array installed last year for Yuba City-based Montna Farms, a producer of short-grain rice.
David Vincent, the Conergy project development manager who oversaw the Sutter Basin array, predicted significant expansion of solar throughout California's massive agriculture industry in coming years.
"I've been involved in quite a few projects already," Vincent said. "It's definitely a great trend for agriculture entities, especially those that make (energy credits) during the summer months and then buy the energy back come wintertime.
"It makes sense for ag facilities that don't have to invest a lot of money up front, and the (solar system) pays itself off over time."
Dave Kranz, spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said solar technology growth in California goes beyond beans and rice.
"Use of solar power has increased on a variety of farms and farming operations. A number of wineries and vineyards have installed solar power panels," he said.
The wine industry was particularly quick to embrace solar, citing cost savings to power grape harvesting and processing equipment and warehouses.
There can be drawbacks. The farm bureau has reported an increase in thefts of solar panels at agricultural sites. Growers have responded with barbed wire fencing, round-the-clock guards and other deterrents.
California growers have found other ways to reduce energy costs, including burning crop byproducts once discarded by previous generations of farmers.
In Napa County, Kendall-Jackson's wine distribution center, a 650,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse recently was awarded gold certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for green buildings. Builders consolidated 10 Kendall-Jackson warehouses in three counties into one site and built within close proximity of major roadways and rail lines.
In-state growers have been further motivated to go green through programs that reward their progress.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service said it awarded nearly $23 million to 586 California farmers and ranchers to subsidize pollution-reduction and other environmental measures. Funds are part of the agency's Environmental Quality Incentives Program targeting organic farming.
E-mail Mark Glover at mglover(at)sacbee.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
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