Sonnax to install solar power system

Sonnax Industries has recently contracted to install a solar photovoltaic power generation system at the company headquarters in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The 102 kilowatt installation, contracted with groSolar of White River Junction, Vermont, represents an investment of more than half a million dollars.
“Adding solar power to our facility is a sound business decision,” said Sonnax CEO Tommy Harmon. “With the savings realized in energy costs, plus the tax incentives, the payback on our capital expenditure is approximately two years.” This solar power generation system will allow Sonnax to generate almost 20 percent of the electricity required for operations of the Vermont headquarters building. Since the power generated cannot be stored, power produced during times that exceed Sonnax’s consumption will be sold to the local power grid, further offsetting the costs.
The installation of the solar power system is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009. This is just another step in the ongoing Sonnax Green Initiative that, over the last few years, has slashed energy consumption and reduced the amount of waste Sonnax sends to the landfill.
Over the past four years, the Sonnax Green Initiative has focused on reducing the company’s carbon footprint and instilling awareness among employees on their impact on the limited resources of our planet. Projects have ranged from simple gestures such as providing each employee with reusable shopping bags to major capital investments such as the solar power system. Along the way, Sonnax has reduced electricity consumption by 18%, propane usage by 25%, and cut dumpster waste to the landfill by half.
CEO Harmon continues, “This is good for our community, good for our company, and good for our customers. Lower energy expenses are just one way we continuously reduce our operating costs, which help us keep our prices in check. We have made some impressive gains while the company continues to grow.”
About Sonnax
Sonnax is a diversified supplier of drivetrain products to the automotive and commercial vehicle industries, including high performance and heavy-duty markets. The company designs, manufactures and distributes components for automatic transmissions, torque converters, driveshafts and related products worldwide. The company is headquartered in Bellows Falls, VT, with offices and/or distribution centers in Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Cleveland, OH; Grayslake, IL; Spooner, WI; Warner Robins, GA; and Jericho, VT; as well as international locations in India, China; and, in early 2010, The Netherlands.
About the automotive rebuilding industry
Sonnax is a leading supplier to the automotive remanufacturing industry, allowing parts such as torque converters and automatic transmission components to be rebuilt and re-used rather than being scrapped and thrown into a landfill.
The Automotive Parts Rebuilder Association (APRA) states that remanufactured auto parts require 50% of the energy and 67% of the labor needed to build new parts. That doesn’t include the significant savings in steel and other raw materials, plus the positive environmental impact of the part being put to use on a vehicle rather than taking up space in a landfill. The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany has demonstrated the yearly energy savings by automotive remanufacturers worldwide equals the electrical output of five nuclear power plants, or more than 10 million barrels of crude oil. These remanufactured parts also represent a tremendous cost savings to the consumer. And the raw materials saved by remanufacturing would fill 155,000 railroad cars, forming a train 1100 miles long. Simply by the nature of the industry it serves, along with its day to day practices, Sonnax is a “green” company.