St. Louis-based general contractor / construction manager Tarlton Corp. has gone solar! Through the firm's participation in the St. Louis Green Business Challenge, we have looked for ways to be greener as a company, and this is one of them.

In May, Tarlton had a 25kW solar photovoltaic array installed on the white roof of our  headquarters, a LEED Silver building we constructed in 2004. To date, the system has offset 5 tons of carbon (the equivalent of 132 trees) and produced 7.44 MWh of energy, enough to power about 245 houses for a day.

The system was designed by Microgrid Energy and installed by Aschinger Electric. It may be the largest of its type in use by a St. Louis general contractor. We are told it should on average provide for half of our lighting needs year-round.

Given Tarlton's emphasis on sustainable construction, it makes sense for us to do our part "at home." This is an experience we can share with our clients.

Additional details are available.