juwi solar completes solar power plant in Nevada

BOULDER, USA: juwi solar Inc. (JSI) announced the completion of the Cactus Garden Solar Energy Generation Facility, a 600kW power plant located in Henderson, Nevada on four acres of land owned by Mars Chocolate North America. All of the power generated by the facility will be consumed by the adjacent Mars factory that produces Ethel M and Ethel’s brand chocolates. JSI developed and built the facility and will also own and operate it.

The Cactus Garden solar project is the second solar photovoltaic (PV) project built by juwi solar on Mars-owned property. The project consists of over 2,000 crystalline silicon modules affixed to single axis trackers that track the movement of the sun. The project is expected to generate approximately 1,258 megawatt-hours of zero-emissions electricity per year, offsetting about 825 tons of greenhouse gas pollution annually– the equivalent of taking more than ­­­­170 cars off the road each year.

“Turning one of the desert’s greatest assets into energy is in complete alignment with Mars’ Principles in Action, our core business values,” said Mack Phillips, site director of the Henderson plant. “Two years ago, we unveiled a similar solar project at our North American headquarters in Hackettstown, NJ, and its impact on our operations has been substantial.”

BYD, a leading diversified technology company, supplied the solar modules for the project. JSI’s selection of BYD was based in part on BYD’s experience in deploying a wide spectrum of renewable energy solutions around the world, including solar modules, battery storage systems and electric vehicles.

“BYD is very pleased to work with juwi solar on one of the first major solar farms in the US using BYD’s high-efficiency, polycrystalline PV technology. We are pleased that they recognized our high quality and reliability as well as our bankability and chose BYD panels for this projects,” said Stella Li, BYD senior VP.

Although JSI has developed and built large-scale solar projects in several states around the country, the Cactus Garden solar facility represents the first facility that JSI will own in the United States on a long-term basis.

“This project demonstrates one of the more fitting matches in the solar industry by combining Mars’ industry-leading commitments to environmental and sustainability matters with our expertise in desiging and building high quality solar projects,” said Michael Martin, CEO of juwi solar. “We are proud to celebrate this project with our business partners in Nevada, where our facility will be replacing brown power with green energy at predictable, cost-effective rates.”