Big Island Grown goes sustainable with solar + hydroelectric energy.
Honolulu, HI, April 20, 2021 – Sunspear Energy, a Hawaii based solar developer and contractor, recently completed a 300kW roof type solar installation on the production facility of Big Island Grown, a medical cannabis operation. Using REC Group Alpha modules, the system will provide about half of the power needed to deliver 12 hours of light plus energy for climate control and equipment. The solar system is paired with an hydroelectric turbine that is fed from the flumes that were originally in place for the sugar plantation that occupied the site since the mid 1800’s. The combination of solar and hydro power gives the facility alternate power sources without needing backup batteries. The solar energy system was financed with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) provided by Good Current, a source of capital to finance solar energy system projects for commercial electricity users.
Big Island Grown is unique in many ways: It is turning what has been mono cropping into diversified agricultural area, offering jobs to those who had been employed on the former largest banana farm in the country which came after the shutdown of the sugar plantation. From sugar to bananas to cannabis, the plantation infrastructure has been repurposed and modernized to produce exacting quality and hundreds of variations of cannabis for medical use.
“We are very proud of the installation of this solar solution,” stated Jeff Kaemmerlen, CEO of Sunspear Energy. “The amount of fossil fuel needed to power an operation of this size and scope is particularly high. Now with the duality of hydro power and solar this is a very sustainable venture!”
As Hawaii’s agriculture industry shifts from mono-cropping in sugar and pineapple it is diversifying into the growing of medicinal cannabis, hemp and other lesser grown crops. At the same time, the energy industry is shifting from fossil fuel consumption to the use of readily available sustainable energy — the sun. Sunspear is one of the companies leading the way in green business practices. To see how you can use the power of the sun to offset your utility bill visit us at https://sunspearenergy.com/
