Coombs Family Farms announced it has completed the transition to 1,200 solar panels on the rooftops of its production facility for final grid interconnection to a 500 kW AC system. Annually, the system is expected to generate more than 760,000 kWh, or roughly enough energy to provide 105 homes with electricity per year. The energy will cover more than 75% of Coombs Family Farms’ annual electric needs for production.

“Environmental stewardship and sustainable forestry have been guiding principles at Coombs Family Farms since the 1800s,” says Arnold Coombs, seventh-generation sugarmaker and head of marketing at Coombs Family Farms. “The addition of solar energy is consistent with our values and will help us attain environmental sustainability goals essential to future generations.”

Coombs Family Farms produces and packs 100% pure and organic maple on 4,500 acres on the Connecticut River at its production facility at Bascom Maple Farms in Acworth, N.H. By adding clean energy to the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative grid through the solar installation, the new system offsets 541 metric tons of CO₂, or the equivalent of taking 116 cars off the road.

Coombs Family Farms tapped Norwich Solar, a division of Norwich Technologies, as its clean technology partner to lead the project.

In addition to its recent solar installation, Coombs Family Farms has now conserved more than 4,500 acres as farm and forest land. Other sustainable forestry efforts at Coombs Family Farms include health spouts to reduce the impact on maple trees, vacuum tubing to add efficiency, and reverse osmosis to reduce carbon footprint.

“The family adage that has guided us for seven generations endures: do right by the forest, and it will do right by you,” says Coombs. “In conserving this beautiful land that’s what we have done and what we will continue to do.”