$3 million system will supply 80% of company?s energy

SEBASTOPOL ? Traditional Medicinals reached a long-desired goal last week, lighting up a solar installation that will produce nearly all the energy needed to run its operations. It?s the largest, most likely the first, solar-powered tea factory on Earth.

?We?ve been proponents of alternative energy sources for many years,? said co-founder Drake Sadler. ?This is an extension of our company ethics and belief in environmental stewardship.? The $3 million solar system is expected to pay for itself in five to seven years. It will generate about 430,000 kilowatt hours a year, about 80 percent of Traditional Medicinals? use.

?We run our assembly line in two shifts seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, so we do use lots of energy,? said Mr. Sadler. ?The solar electricity we generate will provide all the energy we use during the day. For our night-time operations we?ll purchase electricity.?

For years the company has offset 100 percent of electricity usage with wind credits. It pays the difference between the cost of wind generation and fossil fuel generation. The new system will allow Traditional Medicinals to reduce its wind credits.

Thirty-five-year-old Traditional Medicinals makes botanical medicine, one of the first in the U.S. to be licensed to do so. It sells its cold remedies, women?s products, tonics, and many other products at natural foods retailers, nutritional shops, grocery supermarkets and drug stores throughout North America.

Most are in tea bags. Traditional Medicinals fills and packages about 500 million teabags a year, said Mr. Sadler.

The company, which employs 150 to 200 people, has revenues of $30 million. It is 25 percent employee-owned. The solar system was installed by Los Gatos-based Akeena Solar. Funding was provided by Comerica Bank.

?I can?t say enough about Akeena and Comerica,? said Mr. Sadler. ?Akeena was there right from the start. They had all the technical information we needed and helped us with our presentation to Comerica.?

Comerica, based in Dallas with a branch in Santa Rosa, also loaned Traditional Medicinals the funds to set up its ESOP plan.

?It?s unusual for a bank to loan when there?s nothing tangible to see. But Comerica believed in our commitment to growth and stability. Even these days, when banks are understandably reluctant to make loans, they were fully supportive of our solar plans,? said Mr. Sadler.

Traditional Medicinals? fleet of vehicles has gradually been replaced with hybrids and other cleaner burning machines.

?As a company, we operate on the principles of social and cultural sustainability and preservation. Projects like this solar installation simply reflect our deep respect for the earth and humanity,? he said.