WE'RE GOING SOLAR!

With the recent installation of our 137 kilowatt, direct current solar photo voltaic system, William C. Huff Companies is proud to announce that we have officially gone SOLAR! As of November, our 34,000-square-foot Naples warehouse will now be cooled and powered by the sun. There will also be enough solar electricity to power a 10,000 square foot addition to our facility planned for the future. The solar panels and system will produce 214,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year equaling approximately 18,000 kilowatt hours each month. To date, this is the largest single-facility solar project in Collier County. After working closely with solar energy expert, Neville Williams, who is also an author and the former CEO of Standard Solar, I came to the conclusion that there were more reasons to go solar than there were reasons not to. Since we are a full-service company specializing in complete personalized logistics support for high and ultra-high net worth homeowners, builders, designers, architects and estate managers, we felt it the right thing to do — we care about the environment and so do our clients. Currently, most businesses and municipalities are more concerned with their ROI (return on investment) than with their impact on the environment. We calculate about a seven year payback on this investment and feel it is worth every penny spent. Over the 25-year system lifetime, our company can expect to pay the equivalent of 4.8 cents per kilowatt hour for the installation which, after the 30 percent Federal tax credit, will cost approximately $245,000. This is less than current commercial electric rates and far less than residential rates which are currently around ten cents per kilowatt hour. The William C. Huff solar system will bring the company’s energy cost to net zero and the bill for power drawn from the electric grid at night will be offset by the solar system’s daytime electricity production. This clean solar system will reduce William C. Huff ’s carbon footprint by approximately 3,500 tons over its lifetime. That’s a lot of CO2! It is my hope that other businesses within the community follow suit…it’s time to go green!