Solar power spices up Maryland energy

BELCAMP, Md., April 23 (UPI) -- Constellation Energy and McCormick & Co. announced plans to build the largest single rooftop solar installation in Maryland and the second for the partnership.

The solar project for spice distributor McCormick uses more than 8,300 crystalline photovoltaic panels on a 363,000-square-foot rooftop. Renewable energy from the site will remove more than 1,600 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.

The 1.8-megawatt system at the McCormick Distribution Center in Belcamp, Md., will be the largest solar installation in the state, McCormick said.

Constellation Energy provides the financing for the project and will maintain the facility for 20 years. It will save McCormick more than $3 million in electricity costs during the course of the agreement.

Alan Wilson, the top executive at McCormick, said sustainable resources such as solar energy make "great sense from a business perspective."

Construction starts in late June. The project will be completed by the end of the year.