Del Mar Farms, a Patterson grower of various crops for fresh and processed packaging, announced last week it had completed a $1.5 million solar energy panel system that spans 40,000 square feet atop three packing buildings along Cox Road. In time, the system should offset Del Mar’s main energy meter by more than 90 percent and produce more than 660,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year, manager Brian Wright said.

“I know we had been looking into going solar for many years, but Jon (Maring, a part owner) wanted to make sure it would be worth it,” Wright said. “We deal with a lot of retail growers who have been pushing us to become more sustainable, but also to be able show our customers that our priorities were to go down that path was a key factor.”