Opening up the electricity bill each month isn’t supposed to be this much fun!

Our new solar panels were installed just before the calendar turned to 2011, and with the snowy winter behind us and the summer sun shining bright, we are finally able to start quantifying the benefits. We are proud to report that our combined electricity usage from the local grid between our two main buildings in Garden City Park, NY, declined an astounding 42.8% in June 2011 versus June 2010! The difference was made up by clean, solar energy that we were able to generate ourselves.

Early conclusion — the solar panels were a terrific investment!

200 Broadway

From the start of the year through July 6th, 2011, compared with the similar timeframe last year, we have reduced our usage and generated enough of our own clean, renewable solar energy at our 200 Broadway facility (main warehouse and offices) to reduce our aggregate electric bills for that location by 25%. Over the past three months of long, sunny days, the impact is even more dramatic — as outlined above — and with summer just barely underway, we are eagerly looking forward to tracking our solar output for July, and August and beyond!

CDC's 200 Broadway Month-By-Month Electricity Usage

Solar Is Already Having A Noticeable Impact On Our Electric Bills

190 Broadway

Adjacent to our 200 Broadway building, our service department makes its home at 190 Broadway. We also installed solar panels on that roof, and with less electric usage in that building, the impact is even more dramatic — a nearly 50% reduction in our billed electricity use!

190 Broadway Solar Power Generation Through July 2011

First 6 Months Solar Output From One Of Two Solar Installations (190 Broadway)

Check back as we quantify the impact of our solar panels through the peak summer months!

Check out the difference in energy generated by our roof’s solar panels March 20th versus March 21st. As if we needed another reason to be excited for those sunny summer days that are right around the corner! We can’t wait to see how much clean solar energy our new solar panels can produce during peak sun season — check back for updates!

CDC Solar Panel Energy Production

Our Solar Panels Were Far More Productive 3/20/2011 Vs. 3/21/2011

The more energy our solar panels produce, the less electricity we need to draw from the local power plant, directly reducing our carbon footprint.

Back on December 13th, we announced that we were in the midst of installing solar panels on our two New York warehouse roofs.

Solar Panels On Our Roof Coffee Distributing Corp.

Solar Panel Installation Complete and Operational!

Well, we’re very pleased to announce that the installation has been completed — just in time to beat the biggest snow storm in recent memory! If the sun ever comes out again, we expect the clean energy generated from our newly-upgraded roof to offset a significant portion of our traditional electricity usage. Stay tuned for details as we quantify the savings!

Check our more photos on our Flickr page!

It was a very exciting weekend at CDC!

Coffee Distributing Corp. Solar Panels

The much-anticipated arrival of our solar panels came last Friday, and installation began on Saturday. The solar panels are being installed on the roofs of both of our main warehouse buildings, 200 Broadway and 190 Broadway, in Garden City Park, NY.

Green Clean Energy Solar Panels

Each watt of renewable energy that is generated from these solar panels will directly offset our traditional energy needs, helping to transform Coffee Distributing Corp. into a greener company. We will post further updates once the panels are fully operational and we can quantify their impact!

Solar Panel Roof Installation

See more photos on our Solar Panel Installation Flickr Gallery!