PepsiCo is a worldwide leader in the food and beverage industry and has been leading the move to sustainable practices and renewable energy. This PepsiCo distribution center needed to be a perfect expression of one of the corporation’s key climate impact mitigation strategies: “SHIFT: To renewable electricity and fuels in manufacturing and fleet.” (https://www.pepsico.com/sustainability-report/climate)
PepsiCo makes clear how commercial solar in San Diego fits their big picture goals on their website: “We aim to lead by example and manage our climate-related impacts in a responsible manner, while helping to drive systemic change… We’ve set an ambitious new target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040… We more than doubled our interim climate goal, and are now striving to reduce absolute GHG emissions across our direct operations (Scopes 1 and 2) by 75% and our indirect value chain (Scope 3) by 40% by 2030 (against a 2015 baseline). We expect these new goals to lead to reductions of more than 26 million metric tons of GHG emissions, the equivalent of taking more than 5 million cars off the road for a full year.” (https://www.pepsico.com/our-impact/sustainability/focus-area/climate)
The SunPower system designed for PepsiCo in San Diego efficiently uses available roof space and takes advantage of the region’s abundance of sunshine with single tilt SPR-E20-330-COM modules tilted south to maximize production. The solar array is tied to a BYD energy storage system. Energy Toolbase’s Acumen EMS controls software, paired with the BYD CHESS unit, was installed to reduce peak demand at the facility. The primary controls application selected was Demand Charge Management, where Acumen EMS leverages its industry-leading machine learning algorithms to forecast load, shave peaks and maximize value capture.
This PPA arrangement allowed PespiCo to power this new building with renewable energy and achieve energy cost savings without upfront investment. The building’s designer, Hamann Construction, Inc. is able to provide clean energy and receive the benefit of several incentives.
“It was extremely gratifying to partner with Hamann Construction and Pepsi to create a commercial solar system atop the new Pepsi distribution facility here in East San Diego County. The goal was for a rooftop system that delivered the maximum yield. It was an honor to be a small but important part of Pepsi’s global energy goals and is always a great experience when we partner with Hamann Construction and get to be a part of one of their great projects.“
Wenjie Chen, Director of Commercial, HES Solar
We are a San Diego-based, family-owned solar company. We have been an energy innovator since 2001 and can handle projects from small, rooftop solar panel additions to large-scale commercial microgrid systems.
Our website is a great resource for your solar research. We’d also love to speak with you to answer any specific questions you have about your project. Click here to be contacted by an HES Solar representative, or simply dial us at 619-692-2015. We don’t use call centers so you’ll speak with a full-time HES Solar employee in California.