Kingspan Insulated Panels North America announces today that its Modesto, California, manufacturing facility is now generating 65% of all electricity demand through onsite renewable energy thanks to the new photovoltaic (PV), or solar, panel roof.

The PV panel roof, completed in June 2022, is now fully operational, generating 1.4 MW of onsite electricity, as part of several upgrades to reduce the plant’s environmental impact. The new solar array is comprised of 2,163 modules, each generating 430W of electricity.

This is just one sustainability initiative at the manufacturing facility as part of the company’s global Planet Passionate program, an ambitious, decade-long commitment to achieving net zero carbon manufacturing across operations by 2030. The Modesto plant also uses upcycled PET plastic water bottles as a key raw material input for manufacturing Kingspan’s QuadCore® insulation.

“By harnessing solar power for manufacturing, it’s a win-win situation. We are reducing carbon emissions by generating our own power and we are lowering the level of embodied carbon in the metal panels we’re producing here,” said Kingspan‘s Director of Sustainability for North America, Brent Trenga. “This is the first step in increasing onsite generation at all North American facilities we own.”

Through upcycling and renewable energy, Kingspan is well on its way to meeting its global target with a focus in three areas:

• Energy: powering 60% of all Kingspan operations directly from renewable energy with a minimum of 20% of this energy generated on manufacturing sites
• Carbon: achieving net zero carbon manufacturing and a 50% reduction in product CO₂ intensity from primary supply partners
• Circularity: upcycling of 1 billion PET bottles annually into insulation products plus zero company waste to landfill across all sites 

The 138,500 sq. ft. plant was upgraded in 2020 and employs a staff of 85, making it the city of Modesto’s third largest employer. Total investment for the upgrade was around $23 million and it is one of Kingspan’s six insulated panel plants in North America.

Kingspan has been operating in Modesto, California, since 2008. To learn more about Kingspan, visit www.kingspanpanels.us.