Nestled between the Bear River Range and the Wellsville Mountains, winters in Cache Valley can be long, cold, and dark. That isn’t stopping some local businesses from investing in solar power. Sports Academy, a private gym in North Logan, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this Monday on an 888 kilowatt solar array, now the biggest in the county.
“It has 2646 panels, 74 power inverters, which will cover about 93-94% of our daily power consumption," said Dan Smith, general manager of Sports Academy." Realistically, we look at saving anywhere from $5000-$7000 a month.”
Sports Academy isn’t the only business in town that is embracing renewable resources; Conservice, a utility management company, has also converted to mostly solar. Both of these companies hired Auric Solar, a Utah-based company that has also installed arrays at the Rio Tinto Stadium, home of Real Salt Lake, in Sandy and the Chevron building in Salt Lake City. For many of these companies, the cost-savings are just too good to pass up.
“It’s a good business move," said Smith. "It’s not just about politics, it’s not just about saving money. As our environment changes, it’s just being more responsible with our carbon footprint and trying to do our part.”
Cache Valley has some of the worst air quality in the nation during the winters, and this new array is the carbon equivalent of removing 85 cars from the roads. In addition to improving air quality, the money saved by these companies could be used to create new jobs or buy new equipment.
