GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER FLIPS THE SOLAR SWITCH ON FRITO-LAY MODESTO MANUFACTURING FACILITY

To Commemorate Earth Day, Frito-Lay Begins Harnessing Power of the Sun
to Produce Thousands of Bags of SunChips Daily

April 2008 / Modesto CA:  Frito-Lay’s popular SunChips line of multi-grain snacks is now living up to its name -- literally.  To commemorate Earth Day, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frito-Lay CEO & President Al Carey, California Energy Commission Vice Chairman James Boyd and Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour flipped the switch Tuesday on a solar panel field at Frito-Lay’s Modesto manufacturing facility. 

The field of solar collectors, which are actually mirrors, have the ability to track the position of the sun throughout the day to gather the most energy.  The concave shape of the mirror reflects the sun’s energy on a black tube running through the center of each panel.  This black tube is filled with super-heated water (400 degrees), and as the water passes through the tube, solar energy heats the water to 450 degrees.  The water then runs through pipes from the field into a boiler system inside Frito-Lay’s facility.

The boilers take the heat from the water and generate steam which is used to boil the cooking oil used in SunChips.  By utilizing steam, the facility is able to significantly reduce its use of natural gas.  This “green” step is one of many recent moves in Frito-Lay’s solar-centric campaign to help improve the planet.
Frito-Lay has already installed more than half the solar collectors.  When the project is completed in July 2008, approximately 54,000 square feet of mirrors will produce 14,700 MMBTU (one million British Thermal Units) per year.  It takes roughly the same amount of energy to run the SunChips manufacturing line, which operates at about 2.4 MMBTU an hour or 14,600 MMBTU per year.  Frito-Lay also plans to utilize this solar technology at their facility in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Frito-Lay partnered with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop the solar system.  The CEC provided an R&D grant and enlisted the help of American Energy Assets, a provider of energy management solutions.  Prior to construction, the installation design was reviewed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a research arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.