Festo has launched a clean energy project at its North American Regional Service Center along I-71. Roof-mounted solar panels will supply 48 percent of the facility’s electricity requirements – 2.6 million kilowatt hours (kWh) – after completion of the project, which is slated for next year. One of Ohio’s leading solar power companies, Kokosing Solar Power, Athens, Ohio, is the project’s general contractor.

“Every kilowatt hour of electricity generated by sunlight at the Festo North American Regional Service Center is an additional kilowatt hour added to Duke Energy’s pool of electricity for local consumers and businesses,” said Jose Luis Esparza, head of non-production material procurement, Festo North America. “The added energy to the grid from this project will be equivalent to the electricity used by 359 homes in a year.”

While traditional power plants emit greenhouse gases during electricity generation, photovoltaic panels do not. The solar panel project at Festo Mason will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,841 metric tons annually. This reduction in CO2 is equivalent to the carbon sequestration of a 2,000-acre forest. Additional benefits of cleanly generated electricity include water savings, lower stress on the power grid, and reduced cost of generating and distributing electricity. Solar and wind projects support job growth in the clean energy industry.   

Built in 2015 and expanded several times since, the Festo Regional Service Center is the North American distribution hub for Festo’s globally manufactured automation products. The facility, which employs 350 people, also assembles custom orders and builds unique products for North American customers. Festo Didactic, the learning arm of Festo, builds hands-on systems that community colleges utilize to train the next generation of manufacturing and processing technicians.

Festo’s automation technology is so crucial in automotive, food, medicine, and packaged consumer goods plants that the company was designated as an essential business during the pandemic. Festo is one of the top 15 employers in Mason.

Headquartered in Esslingen, Germany, Festo is a family-owned $3.9 billion business employing more than 20,000 people in 60 countries. Festo celebrates its 100th anniversary next year.