A new solar power installation at the San Diego Food Bank will save the facility enough money to provide 600,000 more meals annually to local families in need.
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank will unveil an 80,000-square-foot rooftop solar power installation Tuesday morning. Representatives say the new feature will save the Food Bank’s warehouse facility in Miramar $120,000 in annual energy costs, or the equivalent of 600,000 meals.
The 1,400-panel solar installation was funded by a $1 million donation from Joan and Irwin Jacobs. The Jacobs planned to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony at the facility, along with Food Bank officials and local leaders.
Representatives say each 4-foot-by-5-foot solar panel alone will enable the Food Bank to provide an additional 513 pounds of food to San Diego families in need through energy cost savings.
Food Bank reps say the solar power installation will reduce the facility’s carbon footprint by the equivalent of 600,000 pounds of coal each year, and will produce 803,000kWh of energy for the Food Bank annually – enough to power 125 family homes for an entire year.
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank was established in 1977 to provide food to San Diegans in need. The organization works with more than 330 San Diego County nonprofit charities and acts as a central repository and distribution point for food donations and feeds 370,000 people per month.
According to the Food Bank, of San Diego County’s 3.1 million residents, 475,773 people live in poverty, including 138,334 children.
Currently, the facility’s most needed donation items include canned meat and tuna, peanut butter, canned soups, canned fruits, vegetables and beans, spaghetti, cereal, rice and macaroni and cheese. Learn more about donating to the Food Bank by clicking here.
