Glacier Transit & Storage is installing more than 2,100 solar panels on the roof of its 170,000 square-foot cold storage warehouse in Plymouth.
The company anticipates the solar panels will generate 560 kW, or 32 percent, of the electricity used at the facility.
GTS is a family-owned and operated company that provides transportation and cold and dry warehouse storage for food products.
“We want to demonstrate our established reputation as being a leader in the industry,” GTS president Kyle Nothem said in a prepared statement. “Not only do we continue to find ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs in the supply chain, but more importantly we are taking the initiative to keep our environment clean and sustainable by utilizing renewable energy.”
SunPeak, a Madison-based solar energy project developer founded in 2014, is the general contractor.
“Solar electricity now competes directly with fossil fuel-based energy sources,” said SunPeak president and founder Chad Sorenson. “SunPeak is aggressively lowering the installed cost of solar, making solar an attractive long-term investment for any large energy user.”
Once installed, GTS said it will be the largest commercial solar system on the western shore of Lake Michigan and the largest solar system connected to a municipal electric utility in Wisconsin.
“By installing solar, we’re doing our part to be environmentally responsible,” said Jim Krautkramer, chief financial officer of GTS. “Our fossil fuel energy offsets during the life of the system will be substantial; equivalent to reducing 29 million miles of driving in a passenger car, planting 312,000 trees and saving 4.5 tons of landfill waste.”
