Agilent Installs SunPower Solar System

Agilent Technologies will install a 1-megawatt solar tracking system made by SunPower Corp. at its Santa Rosa, Calif., campus. The solar panels will be installed on top of a canopy structure in the parking lot that will power the facility and provide shade for the lot. The system will be the largest solar power generator in Sonoma County and will generate up to 25 percent more energy than a similarly-sized roof-top system. The company's SunPower Tracker follows the sun's movement throughout the day, and generates about 1.8 million kilowatt-hours per year. SunPower says this can offset more than 33 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years — the equivalent of planting 4,700 acres of trees or removing 3,300 cars from California's roadways. Agilent will purchase solar-generated electricity for 20 years under the SunPower Access program, which allows customers to purchase solar power rather than the solar system itself. At the end of the term, Agilent can renew the agreement, transfer the equipment to a new site, or buy the system. "We are working to reduce the impact of our operations, suppliers, products and services on the environment, and generating our own clean, renewable solar power is a step in the right direction to accomplish those important goals," Ron Nersesian, vice president of Agilent's Wireless Business Unit and general manager of the company's Santa Rosa facility, said in a statement.