February 28, 2025 Solar: A Smart Investment for Food & Beverage Companies

Food and beverage companies can unlock a more sustainable, reliable, and affordable supply chain with solar energy.

By James Presta, Business Development Manager at REC Solar

The U.S. food and beverage industry accounts for 6% of the country’s total industrial emissions.  Food and beverage operations require a lot of energy and can occur across large, distributed facilities that can be daunting to decarbonize. Companies are under increasing pressure to lower their emissions and environmental impact, an effort that must extend to their entire supply chain — sourcing, manufacturing, processing, and distribution – to be the most effective.

Pressure to decarbonize is coming from multiple sources. Industry groups like the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) are encouraging private sector companies to set and work toward realistic and meaningful climate goals. Major retailers including Walmart, Target, and Amazon now require carbon accounting from the food and beverage brands they offer customers. In recent years, many states have introduced corporate clean energy mandates and standards including California, New York, and Illinois.  

In recent years, solar energy has gained momentum as an accessible and affordable source of clean energy, particularly for commercial and industrial sites. Food and beverage companies actively seeking ways to lower their emissions, guard against rising energy costs, and improve their energy security should look to solar as a smart investment to reach their financial and sustainability goals.

Unpacking the value of solar

Energy remains one of the highest expenses for any food and beverage company. Manufacturing and processing facilities are notoriously energy intensive and many operate nearly 24/7 to keep up with demand. With energy prices expected to continue to increase in coming years, food and beverage companies are seeking ways to reduce their reliance on volatile fossil fuel resources in order to lower costs and emissions.

Within facilities, many food and beverage companies have begun upgrading appliances and processes with cleaner, electric alternatives. For instance, natural gas furnaces can be replaced with more efficient electrified options like heat pumps. Companies that rely on vehicle fleets for transportation and distribution may switch to EVs that require on-site charging. These changes serve to reduce a site’s overall carbon footprint but also add new energy loads, which can incur higher utility prices.

An appropriately-sized solar array can deliver clean, low-cost power to a facility to offset new electric loads and support an organization’s broader transition to a cleaner energy future. Since energy costs are a big expense, cost savings also remain one of the biggest motivators for adopting solar in the food and beverage industry. Going solar and entering into an on-site power purchase agreement (PPA) enables a company to extend their investment and guard against future energy price volatility. Many of these agreements allow you to lock in a favorable rate for 20-25 years, providing peace of mind and guaranteed access to clean, affordable energy. PPAs also eliminate many of the upfront costs associated with installing solar, making it possible to adopt clean energy assets without major changes to budgets and investment priorities. 

Best practices for deploying solar

No two food and beverage manufacturing sites or companies are the same. Working with a developer who understands the unique features of each facility, the local power grid, regulatory environment, and more is critical when deploying solar. For the food and beverage specifically, developers will need to work around a facility’s existing needs and processes as much as possible to minimize costly disruptions or downtime that may occur as systems are connected and brought online.

The right developer can help identify the appropriate size solar system to support current and future energy needs, they can also help design a system that takes the site’s layout into consideration. Rooftop installations are common for manufacturing and processing facilities due to their size and available roof space but some food and beverage companies may elect to install ground mounted panels if they have space available on their property. Developers may also offer options that boost cost savings and support other energy efficiency initiatives, like bundled plans that offer both solar and EV charging infrastructure. Pairing fleet electrification efforts with solar is a lucrative investment that can provide food and beverage manufacturers with a comprehensive, future-proof solution to meet zero emissions goals and offset the cost of EV charging.

Going beyond solar, food and beverage facilities that prioritize resiliency and energy independence may also want to install on-site energy storage. For companies operating across several regions, state energy policies–  like California’s net metering and demand charges, for instance – may make solar plus storage a more lucrative investment.. Storage can also be a smart investment in areas prone to extreme weather and grid outages. A properly-sized energy storage system provides backup power that can keep essential operations running when the grid goes down. Pairing solar with storage can also support lower energy costs. When a facility is able to draw from stored solar energy instead of grid power during peak periods, it can avoid higher prices.

It’s also possible to secure financing or a PPA via a solar developer. Some also offer ongoing operations and maintenance support for the solar system, energy storage, EV charging, and other assets. This can be a critical value add for food and beverage companies who are focused on efficiency across all their operations but do not employ in-house energy or sustainability experts.

Looking ahead at a cleaner future

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that the cost to install solar has dropped by nearly 40% over the last decade. In recent years, federal tax credits and incentives around domestic solar production and deployment have expanded the market for these technologies into new states and regions.

Solar prices are trending in the right direction and pressure to lower costs and emissions across critical industries like food and beverage manufacturing is not a trend that will fade in coming years. Now is the time for companies to get serious about future-proofing their facilities with clean energy technologies.

It’s clear that going solar makes smart business and environmental sense – food and beverage companies that adopt solar are not only investing in a cleaner, more affordable future for themselves, they are demonstrating a path to long-term sustainability for customers, partners, and industry peers.

About the Author:
James Presta, Business Development Manager at REC Solar.

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