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Project Case Study: Manufacturing

793kW Manufacturing Facility Solar in La Verne

A near-megawatt rooftop system for a plastic injection molding facility: industrial-scale commercial solar mounted with a Solar Strap ballastless system and built around the facility's high energy demands.

793kW

Rooftop Solar

Solar Strap

Ballastless Mount

In-House

C-10 Electrical Crews

793kW rooftop solar array with Solar Strap ballastless mounting at a plastic injection molding facility in La Verne, installed by Keen Energy

What a Manufacturer Needs From Energy

Plastic injection molding is energy-intensive by nature: heaters, hydraulics, chillers, and compressed air running through long production schedules. Electricity is a direct input cost to every part that comes off the line, which means utility rate increases land straight on the margin.

Demand charges compound the problem: they make up 30-70% of many commercial electric bills, and heavy machinery is exactly what drives them.

This La Verne facility needed a large-scale system that could offset high industrial energy demands without compromising the roof it sits on. The answer was 793kW of rooftop solar on a Solar Strap ballastless mounting system.

Scope Delivered

Delivered as a full EPC scope: engineering, procurement, construction, permitting, utility interconnection, and commissioning, with Keen accountable for the outcome end to end.

793kW Rooftop System

A near-megawatt array sized against the facility's high industrial energy demands, spanning the manufacturing building's rooftop.

Solar Strap Ballastless Mounting

A ballastless attachment approach that secures the array without the added dead load of ballast weight, protecting the roof's structural capacity.

Industrial-Grade Electrical

Interconnection engineered by in-house C-10 crews into a facility where production cannot stop for the installer's convenience.

Engineering Choices That Mattered

Ballastless mounting for structural headroom

Ballasted systems hold panels down with weight, and at 793kW that weight is substantial. The Solar Strap ballastless system attaches the array without that added dead load, a deliberate choice for a large industrial roof where structural capacity is worth protecting for the system's full service life.

Sized for self-consumption

A facility with heavy daytime production consumes solar energy as it is generated, the configuration that holds up best under NEM 3.0's reduced export compensation. High daytime consumption is precisely the load profile where commercial solar math works hardest in the owner's favor.

Compliance handled in-house

Keen's crews are state-certified Journeymen and Apprentices, and our projects are prevailing wage, AB 2143, and DIR compliant. Getting labor compliance wrong is expensive. Our guide to AB 2143 and prevailing wage explains what is at stake, and our FEOC requirements guide covers what it now takes to actually claim the federal credit.

The Economics of a System This Size

We do not publish client financials, and industry ROI estimates often miss by 20-30% because they use generic assumptions. Here is the published market math, labeled as what it is:

Illustrative estimate: not this client's actual costs or savings

  • - At the published 2026 SoCal range of $2.20–$3.20 per watt installed before incentives, simple arithmetic puts a 793kW system roughly between $1.7M and $2.5M before incentives. Larger systems generally sit toward the lower end of the per-watt range.
  • - The 30% federal ITC applies, and because 793kW is under the 1MW threshold, the full credit applies without prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements attached to the tax credit itself.
  • - With the 30% ITC plus MACRS depreciation, well-designed California commercial systems typically pay back in 5–8 years. High daytime consumption and high demand charges push toward the shorter end, the exact profile of an injection molding operation.

A real answer requires your interval data and rate schedule. We show you the math, not marketing promises.

What This Project Proves for Similar Buyers

If you run a manufacturing, distribution, or industrial facility, this project demonstrates that near-megawatt rooftop systems are buildable on working industrial buildings; that mounting choices can protect your roof's structural capacity instead of consuming it; and that an EPC contractor with in-house electrical crews can deliver at industrial scale without production interruptions dictating the outcome.

Keen Energy serves manufacturers across Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, including Pasadena and Corona. For how we approach facilities like this one, see our manufacturing solar page. For delivery details, see our EPC contractor page; for keeping a system of this scale producing, see O&M services.

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