California Produce Plant to Ditch Grid, Use Fuel Cells and Solar

(Bloomberg) — California’s repeated brushes with blackouts proved too much for Taylor Farms.The produce supplier, based in the farm country John Steinbeck made famous, can’t afford to lose refrigeration at its facilities where lettuce and vegetables are trimmed, mixed into salads and packaged for sale.  So working with Bloom Energy Corp., Taylor Farms is installing a microgrid at its 450,000 square-foot facility near San Juan Bautista — its largest — powered by fuel cells, solar panels and batteries in an effort to end the plant’s reliance on California’s strained power grid.“For fresh produce, where you’re relying on refrigeration, if that goes down, it can have a huge impact,” said Wyatt Maysey, director of sustainability for Taylor Farms, in an interview. If the model works, he said, the company could deploy it at more of its facilities as concerns rise…

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