It’s great to see solar manufacturers begin to get their plants LEED-certified – it’s time for them to move beyond producing clean energy and make sure their operations and buildings are green too.

Amonix Inc., a manufacturer of utility-scale concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar systems, has received LEED-Gold certification for its California headquarters and production facility in Nevada.

Amonix manufactures its MegaModule® CPV systems at a 214,000 square foot North Las Vegas facility. Its own solar systems will supply all the plant’s energy needs – about 2,500 megawatt hours (MWhs) a year.

Thus, the plant will use solar energy to make solar energy. The plant will produce CPV systems that will generate 375,000 MWhs per year.

Amonix also incorporated lighting arrays that exceed LEED requirements by 15-20%, high-performance plumbing fixtures that lower water use 41%, and Energy Star equipment.

Its headquarters in Seal Beach, California are in a renovated  78,000 square foot building. It earned the maximum score for its lighting system designs, which minimize wasted ambient light by focusing on work areas rather than common spaces by installing tubular “daylighting” devices to bring natural light into dark spaces.

Original Article on SustainableBusiness.com