Location: Healdsburg, California System Size: 157 kW Energy Output: 236,471 kWh per year Savings: $49,819 annually Results: CO2 emissions reduced by 329,359 pounds/year (equivalent to 387,883 car miles/year) Success Story PDF

	"EI Solutions' flexible attitude made sure we got the solar energy system that's right for us." - Pete Seghesio, CEO

Since first planting grapes in 1895, four generations of the Seghesio family have tended the vineyards at their award-winning Seghesio Winery in Healdsburg, California. Thanks to its grape-processing equipment, refrigeration units, bottling machinery, air conditioning, and other energy-hungry devices, the company was looking for ways to reduce its electricity bill. After considering other solar power companies, Seghesio chose EI Solutions. "At some point, you just have to trust your gut about these things," says Pete Seghesio, CEO. "We just had the sense that EI Solutions would pay the same attention to detail that we do in our winemaking and result in the same high-quality product."

Working with the engineering and design teams at EI Solutions, Seghesio initially approved a solar energy system that would be concentrated on two roof surfaces, and would provide maximum energy output. But as the PV panels were being installed, the family requested some last-minute changes to the arrangement of the panels.

To meet the client's changing needs, the EI Solutions engineering and construction team re-worked its design right on site. The team literally thought on its feet, modifying the layout so that more of the PV panels would rest on the stronger of the two roofs. Best of all, the newly designed system still delivered the expected amount of solar power, given the presence of some beloved trees, which the family is reluctant to alter lest it impact the aesthetic of the winery. "EI Solutions set accurate expectations, and then delivered what they promised, on time," says Pete Seghesio. "Their flexible attitude made sure we got the solar energy system that's right for us."

The Seghesio Winery solar power system has cut the facility's monthly power bill in half and put Seghesio on the map as one of the early adopters of sustainable practices in wineries in the Napa Valley wine region.