The company with the biggest solar implementation in the state is ready to start generating more power than it needs, selling it back to Ameren for a profit.
Walsh & Associates spokesman Randy Lewis says he’s an energy-holic. When his chemical distributing company in St. Louis started going green, it started with changing out the lighting.
The company installed more than 50 solar tubes — gradually — to provide natural light while also minimizing heat gain and loss because they are contained in a sealed system.
He says over the course of about five years, they also installed an energy-efficient roof, started using compressed natural gas and an air conditioning misting system … all leading to a savings of about $30,000.
Now, with 416 solar panels on its roof, the company is ready to start making more power than it needs, sending the overage back to the grid, earning another estimated $12,000 a year.
Lewis says every dollar a business spends on utilities is a dollar not invested in the business. His company is now saving around $50,000 a year on energy costs.
Walsh & Associates has the largest single solar project in the state, a title Lewis says he hopes will be topped soon.